What We Keep Hidden
by CanonAntithesis
Summary: Troy and Sharpay were close before Gabriella showed up ... very, very close. TroyPay, of course. Penname changed from GimmeABeat to CanonAntithesis
1. First Day Back

**What We Keep Hidden**

_A High School Musical Fanfiction_

_by GimmeABeat_

Okay, this is the story idea that won the vote. It's got a brand new title and everything. I'd love to credit the person who suggested it, but she's shy and didn't sign-in with her review. So I'll just have to issue an anonymous thank you very much. This title is prefect and really fits in with what the story is about.

Oh and even if you've already read it, please read again (I've added a little) and leave a lovely little review --- they're like oxygen to me.

Disclaimer:The Mouse owns High School Musical and the characters within. I'm just borrowing them for awhile. I promise I'll put them back when I'm finished.

Summary: Troy and Sharpay were close before Gabriella showed up ... very, very close. Actually, there was another story with this same plot, but I can't remember the author or the name and she stopped updating over a year ago. You'll understand when you get to the end of this chapter, but I don't want to give it away yet. If anyone remembers that story, I would really like to get her permission to do my own version since she did it first.

Pairing: TroyPay, of course.

Time frame: Starts the first day back after Winter Vacation in the 1st movie and proceeds from there with lots of flashbacks.

**Chapter 1: First Day Back**

It's the first day back from Winter Break and Sharpay and Ryan Evans strutted down the hall while she checked her text messages.

"Everything okay?", Ryan asked his twin.

"I don't know. I can't get a signal inside the building. I'll try outside. I was a little worried this morning. He was a little cranky and I thought he felt warm, so I want to check with the center."

Ryan nodded quickly, but before he could reply, he split away from her when they came to a large group of students. Sharpay, however, never yielded to anyone. Instead, she raised up her arms and her fellow students parted before her like Moses at the Red Sea.

One of the affected groups was part of the basketball team walking together to class. Zeke Baylor was momentarily pulled away from his friends, but they quickly came back together and he came a mock shiver as if a chill had just ran down his spine.

"Ooooo, the ice princess has returned from the North Pole", Zeke said to his friends, particularly proud of himself at his witty remark.

Chad, who was walking next to his best friend, Troy, added to the insults. "You know she probably spent the holidays doin' what she always does..."

"What's that?", asked Jason, the fourth basketball player in the group, and the prefect straight man due to his marginal intelligence.

"...shopping for mirrors." Chad finished.

The four teens cackled wildly at Chad's joke and continued down the hall, but Troy trailed behind the others. Finally, he stopped to look back at the small blonde who was now through the front glass doors and outside the building. His brow wrinkled in reflection. It wasn't always like this, but he was afraid things could never go back to how they had been.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Fifteen minutes later, Troy was engrossed in an intense conversation with Jason, of all people, when a girl brushed by him to take her seat in the back of Ms. Darbus' homeroom. He thought he recognized her and was trying to get a better look when Sharpay leaned in close to him, blocking his line-of-sight.

She smiled sweetly for all the world to see, but her tone was anything but sweet. "Hi, Troy. I need to talk to you", she hissed lowly.

"Uh? Oh hi, Sharpay", he mumbled distractedly while trying to get a look at the new girl who was sitting down on the back row. She couldn't really be who he thought she was, could she?

"I hope you all had splendid holidays", Ms. Darbus roared from her upholstered chair on the small stage at the front of the room as everyone scurried to their assigned seats. "Check the sign-up sheets in the lobby for new activities ... Mr. Bolton", addressing Troy directly since he was still standing stupidly in the middle of the room. "... especially our Winter Musicale. We will have singles auditions for our supporting roles and pairs auditions for our two leads." Chad made a rude gesture with regards to the drama announcement and Darbus marched up to his desk. "Mr. Danforth, this is a place of learning and not a hockey arena." Chad stilled the basketball on his desk; Ms. Darbus, obviously, wasn't a sports fan. Referring back to her paper, she continued with the announcements. "There is also a final sign-up for next week's scholastic decathlon competition..."

Darbus had moved to the back of the classroom and Troy took this opportunity to pull out his phone to double check his address book. She couldn't possibly be the same girl. He accidentally hit the wrong button on his phone which caused half the class to pull out their own phones.

"Ah, the cell phone menace has returned to our crucible of learning." Darbus retrieved a brightly colored paint can and walked through the rows collecting phones. "Sharpay and Ryan, cell phones and I will see you in detention."

Sharpay dropped her bejeweled pink Sidekick into the pail, but protested the detention. "Ms. Darbus, I can't possibly serve detention today. I have...", she dropped her voice to keep from being overheard, "obligations."

"We have zero tolerance for cell phones in class. I believe you know that, Miss Evans." She stopped in front of the new student whom Troy was trying to see. "Welcome to East High, Miss Montez." Gabriella reluctantly dropped in her phone with the others.

"Mr. Bolton, I see your phone is involved." She swept over to Troy and he dropped his phone into the bucket with raised eyebrows. "...so we will see you in detention as well."

"B-but, but, that's not even a possibility, Ms. Darbus, your honor", Chad protested. "You see, because we have basketball practice and Troy is ..."

"Ah, that will be 15 minutes for you, too, Mr. Danforth. Count 'em."

Taylor smarted off to the students sitting near her about Chad's inability to count to 15 and Ms. Danforth snapped out at her. "Taylor McKessie, 15 minutes. Shall the carnage continue?" The paint can hit Troy's desk with a loud bang. "Holidays are over, people, way over! Soooo, anymore comments? Questions?

A tall dark haired young man in the back row raised his hand.

"Jason?", Darbus acknowledged him.

"H-how were your holidays, Ms. Darbus?"

The entire class groaned in unison just as the bell rang.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Troy waited for Gabriella as she came out of the classroom and they quickly became reacquainted. He started taking her on a short tour of the school and soon, they arrived at the drama club sign-up board.

"And now that you've met Ms. Darbus, you'll probably want to sign up for that."

He pointed to the sign which read, "Audition for the School Musical! Sign up Here!"

Gabriella guffawed, "I'm not going to be signing up for anything for a while. I just want to get to know the school; but if you want to sign up, I'd consider going to the show."

"Yeah, yeah... that's completely impossible."

"What's impossible, Troy? I wouldn't even think impossible was in your vocabulary", Sharpay said as she came slinking around the drama club kiosk. She looked Gabriella up and down quickly, but addressed Troy, "So nice of you to show our new classmate around." Gabriella gave Troy an unreadable look while Sharpay wrote her name in bold script using her signature bright pink ink pen. Then, she turned around, seemingly in surprise, and looked at the quiet pair. "Oh! Were you guys going to sign up too?" She was addressing Gabriella directly now since Troy was well-aware of her history. "My brother and I have starred in all the school's productions and we really welcome newcomers. There are always lots of supporting roles in the show." Her voice was dripping in condescension. "I'm sure we could find something for you."

"Oh no, no", Gabriella begged off. "I was just looking at all the bulletin boards ... just to see what was going on in the school." She looked curiously at the board and turned back to Sharpay and commented as she was walking away, "Nice penmanship."

Left standing alone with Sharpay, Troy hugged his arm to his side and looked awkwardly at the floor. He started to walk away, but Sharpay stepped closer to him.

"So, Troy. I missed you during vacation. What did you do?" Her tone was friendly, but serious.

"Oh, you know ... played basketball ... snow boarding ... more basketball. Dad surprised us with an after-Christmas ski trip."

"Ski trip." Her friendly attitude and tone changed instantly and she pushed him over to a side wall to move them out of the middle of the hall. "That must be why you weren't home for New Year's Eve."

"Well, noooo. I already said we were skiing."

"That's nice. Except...", she bit out through clenched teeth. "you promised to take Brandon on New Year's Eve. He was looking forward to it, Troy."

He ran his hand through his hair nervously. "Oh, shit. I-I'm sorry, Sharpay. I forgot all about it. Dad came up with this trip on Christmas morning and we just packed up and left. I'm really sorry."

"Look, Troy." She propped her hands on her hips as she continued to chastise him. "You're the one who said you wanted a place in his life, so you can't just disappear when he's expecting you. He was in tears when you weren't there. Remember, Troy ... Brandon's your son too." Whether through anger or some other emotion, Sharpay's voice started to choke up.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. He thought he could almost see her ice princess mask slide seamlessly into place. Putting on her very best fake smile, she stepped away from him, waggled her fingers in the air and said brightly, "Toodles", before flouncing off down the hallway.

Troy stood alone in the crowded hallway with a bewildered look on his face. "Damn."

**TBC**


	2. The Way It Used to Be

**What We Keep Hidden**

_A High School Musical Fanfiction_

_by GimmeABeat_

**Chapter 2: The Way It Used to Be**

_Previously..._

_Troy stood alone in the crowded hallway with a bewildered look on his face. "Damn."_

It wasn't always like this. Sometimes ... most of the time ... he really missed his old friend. It didn't seem all that long ago...

"_I know what we can do! Let's play Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy", the enthusiastic boy explained excitedly. He had sandy colored, sun-streaked hair and appeared to be about nine years old. He was barefoot, wearing old shorts and a worn Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers t-shirt with Tommy, the original Red Ranger, on it. It was his favorite shirt._

"_Not Power Rangers again", moaned a small girl, dressed in dirty blue jean shorts and a t-shirt which had seen better days. She wore her hair in two long dark braids, the same color of brown as her rich chocolate-colored eyes._

"_Why not? It's a great show! Plus we already have the morphers." He held his arm high in the air to show off his newest toy, The Red Galaxy Morpher. He even pushed a few buttons to demonstrate what cool sound effects it made._

"You_ have a morpher", corrected a third child, an African-American boy with a mass of unruly curls. "My mom won't let me play with ... weapons." When he said the word, weapons, he drew air-quotes with his fingers to illustrate that this was the actual word his mother used._

_The three children were sitting on the wooden floor of what, at first, appeared to be a small room inside a rustic house. The first boy, the leader, stood and paced back and forth across the small room, stopping occasionally to look out a rudimentary window, which was actually just a square hole cut into one of the walls. He gazed out at the limbs of the tree and then it became clear that he was actually standing in an elaborate tree house built high into the branches of a large oak tree._

"_Okay, then you don't have to be one of the rangers, Chad. You can be one of the scientists."_

"_I didn't say I don't want to play with power morphers; I just said I'm not allowed to", Chad explained._

"_I'm sick and tired of being Pink Ranger. I'm always Pink Ranger. I don't even like the color pink", complained the girl._

"_Well, Sharpay...", the leader said in a condescending voice, as if he was explaining something to a small child, "you could always be Yellow Ranger. That one's a girl too."_

"_Ewwwww", she whined in response. "Yellow Ranger is always the wimpy one. And I am not a wimp."_

"_She's right, Troy. Sharpay Evans is definitely not a wimp. Remember? She was the first one to jump off the roof on a dare. And she still has the record for jumping out the farest from the tire swing."_

"_Farest? Is that a real word, Chad?", Troy asked, trying to distract his friend._

"_Sure it is. Far, farer, and farest. I'm sure it's in the dictionary."_

"_This isn't settling anything, Troy. Don't you see what he's doing, Chad? He's just trying to distract you." The girl was feisty and she knew it._

"_Distract me from what?"_

"_I rest my case", she smirked at her curly headed friend._

_The summer of their ninth year passed with much fun, much play and much arguing. The three of them: Troy Bolton, Chad Danforth and Sharpay Evans had been best friends since Kindergarten. Troy and Chad had actually known each other since pre-school. A fact that Chad often brought up when he became jealous of Troy's friendship with Sharpay. Even in the best of cases, a threesome often led to hurt feelings and someone being left out and feeling like a third-wheel. And the third-wheel was always Chad or Sharpay. The group seemed to revolve around Troy. Even at this young age he had a natural magnetism that drew others to him._

Yeah, that's when things were great. When everyone got along and every problem could easily solved by dinner time. The ringing of the school bell brought Troy out of his revelry and he blinked a few times before heading off late to his next class.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"So dude... I really screwed up with Sharpay", Troy said anxiously. He was nervously holding a basketball in his hand and shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

Other basketball players were milling around on the court and doing warming up exercises to ready themselves for the intense workout that would start soon.

Chad, who was stretching, looked over at him with a disdainful look on his face. "Hell Troy, I told you that four years ago, man. You should have never screwed around with her." He chuckled a little at his bad joke.

"That's not funny, Chad! And that's not what I'm talking about. I-I promised I'd take Brandon on New Year's Eve and totally blew it off." He paused to angrily swipe his hand through his hair.

"I don't understand why you're even bothering with any of that. I mean with all that Evans money... It's not like he really needs you or anything."

"I'm his father, Chad."

"Yeah... well, I'd be careful with Sharpay. She's like a mountain lioness protecting her cub." With those words of wisdom, Chad took the basketball from Troy and walked away.

Troy shook his head to clear it. He needed to get his head in the game. And he needed to figure out which game he was really playing.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"Sooo...", Sharpay's abrupt voice caused Gabriella to jump in surprise. "It seemed like you knew Troy Bolton." Sharpay was leaning down under the divider of the chemistry lab table, speaking lowly to her so the teacher, who was busy writing on the chalk board, couldn't overhear them.

Gabriella shyly dipped her head to the side before replying. "Not really. He was just showing me around."

Sharpay gave a little snort of laughter. "Well, Troy doesn't usually interact with new students."

"Uh.. why not?" This new student appeared to be trying to ignore her and continued to studiously take notes.

"Oh, he has very busy life. And pretty much doesn't have time for other interests. Understand?"

Sharpay definitely had her own agenda in preventing these two from becoming closer, but was it a purely selfish motive?

"That should be 16 over pi...", Gabriella said, almost to herself. Sharpay rolled her eyes.

"Yes, Miss Montez?", the very pregnant teacher stopped writing to turned her attention to Gabriella.

"Oh, I'm sorry. It's just... shouldn't the second equation read 16 over pi?"

"16 over pi... That's quite impossible." The teacher walked over to her desk and checked her notes.

Then, she looked up at Gabriella in surprise. "I stand corrected." She turned back to the board with an eraser in her hand, but stopped and turned to Gabriella with a smile on her face. "Oh, and welcome aboard."

Taylor McKessie, the president of the Scholastic Decathlon team, studied her with interest.

Sharpay looked at her in disbelief and pulled back with a distasteful look on her face. Troy was having enough problems focusing all what he was supposed to be focusing on. He certainly didn't need this little brainiac distracting him.

**Detention: Darbus Style**

The entire stage was full of students painting seemingly unrelated pieces of scenery. And Ms. Darbus walked through it all like a general inspecting her troops. Gabriella was painting little swirls on a whimsical Styrofoam moon when Taylor ran excitedly up to her waving a piece of paper in her hand.

"The answer is yes!", she yelled enthusiastically to the confused brunette.

"Uh?", Gabriella muttered, stopping her painting to look at the other girl in confusion.

"The Scholastic Decathlon team has its first competition next week and there is certainly a spot on it for you." Taylor continued on, undeterred by the puzzled look on Gabriella's face.

Standing behind the two girls, Sharpay and her brother Ryan were watching them with interest. Sharpay had convinced Ryan to place information about Gabriella Montez's academic prowess in Taylor's locker and now, they were just watching the plot unfold.

"Where did those come from?"

"Didn't you put them in my locker?", asked Taylor, although secretly she thought it a rather odd way for her to introduce herself.

"Of course, not."

"We'd love to have you on our team. We meet almost everyday after school." At Gabriella's reluctance, Taylor added a plaintive, "Please?"

"I need to catch up on the curriculum here ... before I think about joining any clubs."

"But what a perfect way to get caught up...", Sharpay announced as she sauntered over to them. "...meeting with the smartest kids in school. What a generous offer, Taylor."

Taylor turned away from the falsely perky blonde with open distaste, but before she could say anything, Ms. Darbus walked up.

"So many new faces in detention today. I hope you don't make a habit of it, but the drama club can always use an extra hand and while we're here..." She started preaching on the evils of cellphones again and everyone went back to their work, trying to ignore her.

Fortunately for all present, her soliloquy was cut short by the loud interruption of Coach Bolton, who boomed his way into the auditorium and quickly whisked away Troy and Chad while insisting that Ms. Darbus accompany him to the principal's office.

As soon as Ms. Darbus left, Sharpay grabbed Ryan's arm. "I've got to go, Ryan."

"But what if Darbus catches you?"

"You'll cover for me", she told him, offering her brother no option but to agree with her. "I'm already 30 minutes late picking up Brandon and he'll be worried. Plus, the center will bust my butt _and_ my bank account for it. They charge $1 a minute for every minute I'm late, Ryan."

"Alright, alright... I'll cover for you, but when did you become such a responsible adult?"

"August 5th, 2004." Her answer was quick and succinct, without a second of hesitation.

"August 5th, 2004?", he repeated and shook his head, unable to come up with anything significant about that date.

Sharpay breezed past Taylor and Gabriella in a blaze of pink which made Taylor wrinkle her brow in ill-disguised dislike.

Turning to the girl she was sure would be her new best friend, she said, "Soooo... what do you think of our resident drama queen?"

"Sharpay?"

Taylor quickly checked around her before continuing. "Of course, Sharpay", she whispered.

"Oh", Gabriella's lips curved into a cynical smile. "She seems really ... intense."

"Intense." Taylor mulled the word around in her mind. "That's a good word for her. Of course, I could think of a few others, too." She made a show of being in deep thought, lightly tapping a finger on the end of her chin. "Let's see... skank comes to mind and slut, ho-bag, whore, bitch..."

Gabriella's eyes widened with each new descriptive noun Taylor used. Then Taylor's lips formed a perfect O and she covered her mouth with her hand emulating a fake shocked gesture. "Oh my! Do you think ho-bag is going too far?"

"I-I don't know. She doesn't seem that bad to me."

"Well... let me tell you a few home truths, girlfriend. She's rich as sin and lives in this gigantic mansion over on Canyon Peak Drive, but I guess that's not her fault. The thing that makes her skanky is her complete lack of moral fiber. Get this... she has a child."

Taylor put down her paintbrush and waited for the news to sink in. Gabriella paused mid-brush stroke and appeared to be considering her words carefully. "Well... the United States does have the highest teen pregnancy rates in the western industrialized world. In fact, in 2000, the total number of teen pregnancies in the United States was over 800,000 or about 84 pregnancies per 1,000 people. And it's really sad because a child born to a teenage mother is at a disadvantage in society. Newborns of teen mothers tend to have a lower birth weight. As they get older, they are more likely to do poorly in school and have a greater chance of experiencing abuse and neglect."

"Wow", Taylor exclaimed in admiration. "We, soooo, need you on the team. But I don't think you're understanding the full extent of her skankiness." She paused for dramatic effect. "Sharpay Evans got pregnant in middle school."

Taylor looked very satisfied by Gabriella's look of incredulity.

"M-middle school? Is that even possible?"

"Ooh, yes. Little Bichon Frise must be over two years old by now."

"Bichon Frise?"

"What else would someone named _Shar pei_ call her own child?", Taylor said with a wicked laugh.

Neither of them noticed Ryan's angry scowl from behind them, but he said nothing and silently went back to his painting.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Sharpay gently shut her locker door and had to bite back a scream when she saw Troy Bolton standing in front of her.

"God, Troy! What the heck are you doing? Trying to scare me to death? And shouldn't you be at practice?"

However, instead of waiting for an answer, she turned on her heel and started quickly towards the exit.

Troy had to run to catch up with her. He had no idea how she could walk so quickly in those heels, but they did make her calves look great. _Focus, Bolton. _ "I left my gym clothes in my locker." He lifted up the small bag to show her, but she refused to even look his way. It was the truth, but when he saw Sharpay at her locker, he couldn't resist the opportunity to try to talk to her. "Sharpay, wait! I wanted to talk to you. I'm really sorry about the whole New Year's Eve thing. It was stupid of me."

She stopped abruptly and turned to face him, hands on hips, prepared for battle. "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."

"I know and I-I want to make it up to him. Give me another chance. Please."

She sighed deeply, before replying. "Okay. What do you have in mind?"

"Maybe I could come over to your house and spend some time with him", Troy suggested.

"Are you crazy? My father hates you. He'd never let you anywhere near the house."

"Well, would you be willing to bring him over to my house? Maybe after school on Friday? For a few hours?"

"I'll think about it." She impatiently looked down at her watch. "I'm late." And walked off. She didn't even give him a toodles.

_Chad's right_, thought Troy. _This is all my fault. I should have never screwed around with her. I ruined everything._

**TBC**

Author Notes

I am overwhelmed with the responses that this one has gotten. 32 reviews off the first chapter. That has NEVER happened before. I hope this story doesn't disappoint. And please keep them coming.

I hope everyone isn't too shocked that she got pregnant in middle school. I needed Brandon to be old enough to be an actual character in the story and that story that gave me the idea, had him that old too.

BTW, I'm still looking for that story if anyone remembers it, please let me know.

Anyway, it does happen. I bet Gabriella could give us the statistics on it. Oh, and it's sort of based on my life (and not how you're thinking). No, it wasn't me who was pregnant in 7th grade, but much of the plot and reaction of other students comes from my shameful feelings about this girl in my class who was pregnant in 7th grade. While I didn't trip her and make her fall down or anything, I certainly did not extend the hand of friendship, either.

Oh, and the whole "Bichon Frise" thing was inspired by my friend Liz who, when I was trying to come up with a way to get them off the island in Castaways suggested that they be found by marooned WWII Japanese soldiers who had apparently been on the island since 1945. I told her that she wasn't taking this seriously and she said, "Of course, I'm not."

Then, not to give away anything about the future versions of Castaways, but we also talked about possible names for the baby (hint! Hint!) and she said, of course, "Bichon Frise". So Liz, this is for you. And NOOOOOO, his name is Brandon! Taylor was just being a bitch.

As you can see (or read, rather), I'm stealing liberally from the first movie. In fact, many of the scenes are taken word for word. And in doing so, I'm starting to notice some interesting things.

1) When Sharpay does her Moses imitation, she and Ryan are walking out of the school when everyone else is coming in. And Sharpay is busily punching in her cellphone. Why? Well, obviously, she can't get a signal in the school and she's going outside to check on her son. Freaky, how that scene just played right into my plot.

2) Like why did Troy say, "Sharpay's cute" to Chad when he was talking about auditioning for the school musical to get extra credit? That statement just seemed so out of place.

3) And when they're serving detention, if Troy is so interested in the new girl, Gabriella, why is he decorating a tree with Chad? Seems like he'd figure some way of making it over to that moon to help G.

I'm using the timeline that has them graduating in 2009, so there ages are based on that assumption.

They were 9 years old in 1998 and that's about when Power Rangers Lost Galaxy was on. I looked it up. I used to really be into those Power Ranger shows and Lost Galaxy was my favorite. Still remember that theme song ... "Lost, lost, lost galaxy..." Okay, so it's a stupid theme song, but anyway...

And of course, Tommy is everyone's favorite power ranger.


	3. When Things Started to Change

**What We Keep Hidden**

_A High School Musical Fanfiction_

_by GimmeABeat_

**Chapter 3: When Things Started to Change**

_Previously..._

_Chad's right_, thought Troy. _This is all my fault. I should have never screwed around with her. I ruined everything._

He thought back to when everything changed. They were all thirteen and it was one week before school ended for the summer and they were finished with seventh grade. The gang was over at the Evans house swimming in their huge pool.

_Sharpay sat on the edge, lazily dangling her feet in the water, while Troy stood behind her, drying off with a towel. Suddenly, Chad shot out of the water like a dolphin and whipped his head around, splashing them with the five pounds of water held in his curly hair._

"_Jeez, Chad! What'd you do that for?", Sharpay shrieked as she tried to shield herself from the blast of cold water._

_Chad was laughing uncontrollably as he lifted himself out of the pool to plop down next to her. "So I could see the look on your face. That's a classic, man."_

"_Very funny and I'm not a man", she retorted and then quickly slid into the water to get away from her irritating friend._

"_Oooo, you got her good, dude!", Troy shouted childishly. Luckily for Troy, he had still been holding the towel in his hand when the spray attack occurred and he was able to hide behind it, so he didn't get wet._

_Chad was watching Sharpay as she swam to the other side of the pool, got out and walked toward the diving board. "You know, Troy", he commented with his eye firmly fixed on his female friend, "she's right."_

_Troy sat down next to one of his best friends and asked, "About what?"_

_Very seriously, Chad observed, "She most definitely is not a man."_

"_Uh?"_

"_Take a look, man. Sharpay's gettin' a bod'."_

_They both silently watched her as she slowly climbed up the steps and walked to the end of the diving board. She was wearing a bright yellow bikini which along with her long brown hair and beautifully tanned skin made her quite a site to behold. The bikini top was held together with a decorative rhinestone ring between breasts that were just reaching the bloom of womanhood. The bottom of the suit was slung very low on her hips and accented with matching rhinestone rings on either hip. Troy swallowed slowly and looked over at Chad._

"_Has she been wearing that all day?"_

"_No Troy, she snuck into the house when we weren't lookin' and changed", Chad said sarcastically. "She's been looking like that for a while now. You just haven't noticed."_

_Troy looked back toward the diving board when he heard a splash, but she was already in the water. _

"_And you noticed?"_

"_Oh, yeah. I noticed." At that, Chad hopped up and announced, "I'm going in for snacks. You want?"_

_Troy was distracted by watching for Sharpay to resurface. "Uh, oh yeah. Whatever you're havin'. Hasn't she been down too long?"_

"_Sharpay? She's like a fish; you know that." Chad turned and walked off without a care._

_Troy, truly worried now, stood and started trying to see if he could spot her in the deep end. Just when he was ready to dive in and swim to the rescue, Sharpay's head surfaced and she swam over to where Troy was still sitting. She came right up to the side and propped her elbows up on the side of the pool. _

"_Hi, where's Chad?", she asked breathlessly and completely oblivious to the recent turmoil she was causing her friend._

"_Oh, he went in to get some snacks."_

"_Maria's inside", Sharpay told him, referring to the Evans' family cook. "She loves Chad, so she'll give him the world."_

"_So, Sharpay... I was wondering, you know, if you were going to the school dance next week? It's the last one this year."_

"_Of course, I'm going, silly", she answered with a laugh. "We always go together."_

"_Oh, right. The three of us."_

_Before they could talk further, Chad walked up with his hands overloaded with snacks and cans of soda._

"_I hit the jackpot, man!" Then turning to Sharpay, he amended, "Oh sorry, _woman_."_

"_Ha. Ha. Just hand over the goodies, Chad."_

_**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:** _

"_What I don't understand...", Chad asked as he popped open the top of his third can of cola. "is why Ryan never hangs out with us? I mean, I know Troy stinks, but I use deodorant." He took a huge handful of chips and crammed them in his mouth._

"_I may stink, but you're the one who's gross. You have manners like a pig."_

_Troy watched as Sharpay delicately sipped on her Diet Coke. When, he wondered, did Sharpay start delicately doing anything?_

"_Oh, you know, Ryan. He'd rather hang out with mother than people his own age. They started taking this mother/son yoga class at the 'Y'. He has definitely redefined Mama's Boy."_

"_I'll say..."_

"_I can't believe we'll be eighth-graders next year", Sharpay sighed as she leaned back in the chaise lounge. _

"_Me either; it's going to be great. Troy and I are a shoe-in for the varsity basketball team and you already know you're head cheerleader, so you'll be at all our games."_

"_I'd come to all your games even if I wasn't a cheerleader. You know that", she placed a friendly hand on Chad's arm and Troy felt himself tense at the sight._

"_But... Now listen to me, people. We. Will. Not. Be. Evil. Right?", Chad stated with conviction as he looked back and forth between his two friends. Ever since they were in sixth grade, Chad had been complaining about how evil all the eighth-graders were._

"_I never thought they were that bad", Troy observed. _

"_That's cuz nobody tried to stuff you in a locker. You know", Chad said as he lovingly fluffed his hair, "if it wasn't for this 'fro they'da done it too."_

"_I think your head would have been too big even without all the hair."_

"_No way... It was my 'doo. I am never cutting my hair. It saved my life."_

"_You are one of a kind, my man."_

_They laughed and ate for a few more minutes and then Chad became suddenly serious. "Hey, I got some bad news, dude and dudette." Chad's words held humor, but his tone was very serious._

"_What's up?", Troy asked. He was chugging back on his second soda, but hadn't eaten much. He was incredibly thirsty, his throat having gone suddenly dry as the result of his discovery of the new Sharpay._

"_My mom and dad are going on a second honeymoon. They're doing this huge around the world trip and they're shipping me and my sister off to our grandparents' in Minnesota for the whole summer."_

"_The whole summer?", Sharpay asked incredulously. "That's horrible." As irritating as Chad was sometimes, she knew she would really miss him. _

"_Yeah, Chad. That's too bad", Troy added, but there wasn't much conviction is his voice. Instead, he was thinking of spending an entire summer alone with Sharpay, just the two of them._

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

After Gabriella had, once again, turned down Taylor's offer of being on the Decathlon Team, she turned to the other girl and asked a surprising question as they walked out of school at the end of detention.

"What do you know about Troy Bolton?"

"Troy? Hmm. I'm not an expert on that particular sub-species. However, unless you speak cheerleader, as in..." She walked into the middle of an enthusiastic cheer leading practice with a mass of girls all wearing East High's red and white hoodies and shorts along with long read and white knee socks. "Oh my gosh! Isn't Troy Bolton just the hottie-super-bomb?"

They all squealed simultaneously and jumped up and down in excitement. "Oh, he's so beautiful", someone cooed.

"See what I mean?"

"I guess I don't speak cheerleader."

"Which is why we exist in an alternate universe to Troy, the basketball boy."

"Have you tried to get to know him?"

"Well, we've only been in the same school since high school and by then, all the lines are drawn and no one's allowed to cross over them."

"Huh?"

"Watch how it works in the cafeteria tomorrow when you have lunch with us. Unless, you'd rather sit with the cheerleaders and discuss the importance of firm nail beds."

"My nail beds are history." She held up her hands, palm in, to show Taylor.

Taylor held up her own unhealthy nails and exclaimed, "Sister!"

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

The ball whooshed through the net and Coach Bolton caught it with ease.

"Still don't understand this detention thing", the Coach commented to his son as he paused in the middle of their game of one-on-one.

They were playing ball on the full court in the middle of their backyard. Their large brick and stucco home stood behind the two Bolton men with its slate roof and pristine landscaping. Certainly, a career in the local school system did not pay for this home. The Boltons bought this incredible estate when Mrs. Bolton made partner at her law firm over ten years ago.

"It was my fault. Sorry, Dad."

"Cross court", Coach commanded and Troy obeyed immediately.

He ran a few yards away from his dad and quickly turned as Jack threw him the ball. Then, Troy dribbled a couple of times before taking his shot directly into the net.

"Darbus will take any opportunity to bust my chops. That includes yours too." Jack retrieved the ball and threw it back to Troy.

But rather than start playing again, Troy held onto the ball and asked his dad a question. "Hey, Dad? Can we talk about Sharpay?"

"Sharpay? Now, that's a name I haven't heard you say in awhile."

"Yeah well, I've been ... trying to spend some time with Brandon."

"Brandon? Who's Brandon? Shoot me the ball."

Reflexively, Troy threw the ball straight to his coach, but he was trying to talk to his dad. Unfortunately, they were the same person.

"He's my son, dad."

"Oh. Well, I thought we settled that years ago, Troy. You were just a kid, not responsible for your own self, so how were you expected to be responsible for a child?"

He looked Jack hard in the eyes. "Sharpay's six months younger than me."

"That's different. You know what they say... girls mature faster than boys." Then, in a complete change of topic, Coach Bolton said, "There's gonna be college scouts at our game next week. Know what a scholarship is worth these days?"

"A lot."

"Yeah. Focus Troy. Come on."

There was no point in discussing anything with him now. Troy turned away from his dad, faked left and went for the lay-up which went straight into the hoop with a soft whoosh.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"What did you do today?"

"Played."

"Really? Played what?"

"Stuff."

"Miss Jean said you were feeling better --- fever's all gone."

"Yep."

_Sometimes, he was as hard to talk to as... _

However, before Sharpay could finish that thought, Brandon reached up and took her hand in his, holding on tightly.

"I missed you, Mommy."

"I missed you, too, baby."

She started playfully swinging his arm back and forth as they made their way to her car.

_...never mind._

**TBC**

The description of Sharpay's bathing suit came from the cover of January's Shape magazine. Doesn't Ashley look great? That would have definitely improved the ratings of HSM2 if Sharpay had worn that thing.

Oh, and in my area, and in this story, middle school is 6 thru 8 grade, high school is 9 thru 12 grade. Some of the reviews I got from the last chapter, indicate some confusion. So... she got pregnant in the summer between 7th and 8th grade (there will be more flashbacks) when Chad was away in MN.

Now, that I'm watching this movie and practically transcribing it too, I'm noticing some really weird things... so here's my observations from this chapter.

Troy talked to 2 different people (Chad and his dad) about 'breaking out' and being in the musical (enough though he never came right out and said the words).

Gabriella only ever talked about not joining in extracurricular activities because she wants to settle into the school first. Then, she shows up at the auditions. Why? You may ask. Cause she's interested in Troy, not the musical. She obviously thinks he's a 'hottie-super-bomb'.

Hey, I gave this response to a reviewer and now I don't remember whom I sent it too, but I thought it was worth sharing with everyone. Here it is.

"thanks for the great review. i really appreciate it. to answer your question... no, they don't live together, but you're just going to have to wait to find out more details. i will tell you this and you probably won't like it. i'm writing a different kind of troy in this one. he's much more a typical high school boy who doesn't take responsibility for his actions and sharpay who has no choice but to take responsibility since it was happening to her body. god, i sound like stephanie meyer with the not subtle message. hers is no pre-marital biting. mine is be careful because if you screw up and get pregnant, you will probably be stuck with all the responsibility because guys are dogs.

but i do promise a happy troypay ending."


	4. Surprise Auditions

**What We Keep Hidden**

_A High School Musical Fanfiction_

_by GimmeABeat_

**Chapter 4: Surprise Auditions**

"Just something for you", Sharpay said as she handed Ms. Darbus a crudely decorated container painted in bright red and blue primary colors. Ms. Darbus accepted it with a frown on her face. Then, Sharpay leaned in closer to her and added, "Brandon made it."

A small 'O' appeared on her mouth and the frown changed to a small smile as she placed the container, lovingly, on her desk. Since starting at East High School two and a half years ago, Sharpay had become unusually close to Ms. Darbus and the drama teacher had taken a special interest in the Evans twins and, by extension, Brandon. Due to childcare constraints, Sharpay was forced on occasion to bring Brandon with her to rehearsals and Ms. Darbus had started to think of the charming little boy as a grandson.

The rest of the class trailed in and took their seats as the morning bell rang. Gabriella stood next to her desk in the back of the room and tried to catch Troy's eye. He acknowledged her look with a small smile and sat down in his seat just as Darbus addressed the class.

"I expect we all learned our homeroom manners yesterday, people, correct? If not, we have some dressing rooms that need painting." She stepped up on the raised platform in the front of the classroom. "Now, a few announcements... This morning during free period will be your chance for the musicale auditions, both single and pairs."

Sharpay smiled brightly at this and Troy glanced over at her, taken in by the sincere happiness in her smile. She even clapped her hands together quietly in anticipation as she looked excitedly at Ryan, her partner for the pairs audition.

"I will be in the theater until noon for those of you bold enough to extend the wingspan of your creative spirit."

Chad leaned quietly over Troy's shoulder and whispered, "When's she due back on the mother ship?"

Troy was confused for a second, thinking that Chad was referring to Sharpay, whom he had been watching intently, but he quickly realized to whom his friend was referring and he chuckled slightly at the bad joke.

"Now, today we're going to be discussing the importance of Shakespeare...."

Troy wasn't listening to Darbus; instead he was remembering back to that fateful summer.

"_What are you doing?", Sharpay asked in shock as Troy pulled his lips slowly away from hers._

"_I'm kissing you, of course." _

_His smile was as big as her eyes were wide. Chad had only been gone three days before Troy decided it was time to find out about these new feelings he was having for Sharpay._

"_But why?"_

"_Because you're one of my best friends and you're a lot prettier than Chad." He drew in closer to her again and she backed away reflexively. He exhaled deeply. "You smell better, too."_

_That one made her smile and Sharpay relaxed a little._

"_It's just ... well, we're changing, you know? Growing up, that is." She kept watching him with her large doe-like eyes. "You must have noticed." She blushed at this and dipped her head, but didn't respond otherwise. "And so... I thought maybe we could... you know, find stuff out together."_

"_Stuff?", she asked softly as she raised her head to meet his eyes._

_He leaned in closer and their lips met again. This time she kissed him back._

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Troy was thinking about what excuse he could come up with so he could watch Sharpay audition for the musicale. He shoved his books into the locker and slammed the door just as Chad walked up.

"What's up?" The frizzy headed guy lightly punched his friend in the shoulder and they started to walk together down the hall. "So, the whole team is hitting the gym during free period. What do you want us to run?"

"I can't make it. I gotta catch up on some homework." He kept nervously putting his hands into and out of his pockets and pushing his sleeves up and then, pulling them back down as they continued through the halls.

"What? Hello... it's only the second day back. I'm not even behind on homework yet. And I've been behind on homework since preschool."

Troy laughed loudly. "That's hilarious. I'll catch you later." With that, he quickly took off, leaving Chad standing alone in the middle of the hall.

"Homework? There's no way."

Chad took off after his friend to find out the truth, but Troy quickly lost him and after taking a convoluted tour of the school, finally arrived backstage at the school auditorium. He quickly hid behind a janitor's cart which he pushed along slowly, trying to appear as inconspicuous as possible.

He hid behind the curtains and peeked out into the auditorium to see Ms. Darbus breeze down to the front with the drama club, including Sharpay and Ryan, trailing behind her. She swept onto the stage and snapped her fingers to gain everyone's attention.

She raised her arms out to her sides to indicate the stage area and announced to her enthralled drama students, "This is where the true expression of the artist is realized." She continued, melodiously, "Where inner truth is revealed through the actor's journey..." Her solo performance was interrupted by the sound of a bell ringing. "Was that a cellphone?", she bellowed into the nearly empty auditorium.

A slight girl, standing to her right, leaned over and said, "No, ma'am. That was the warning bell."

"Ah." Then, she quickly resumed her speech. "Those wishing to audition must understand that time is of the essence. We have many roles to cast and final callbacks will be next week."

While Darbus delivered her information about auditions, Troy had managed to sneak his janitor's cart to the back row of the theater where he could watch, unobserved.

"First, you will sing a few bars and I will give you a sense of whether or not the theater is your calling." She paused and lowered her glasses to peer at the prospective actors. "Better to hear it from me than from your friends later." She turned to the diminutive girl with a flourish and said, "Our composer, Kelsi Nielson, will accompany you and be available for rehearsals prior to callbacks." With a sweep of her arms, Ms. Darbus announced in a booming voice, meant to resound all the way to the back row, "Shall we?"

What followed was an embarrassing and often painful parade of the East High's erstwhile thespians, from the curly-haired girl who became emotionally overwhelmed at her own poor singing to the performance artists whom Ms. Darbus recommended seek counseling.

Gabriella had been searching through the entire school for Troy. She had tried the gymnasium first, of course, but he wasn't with the rest of the team. She hadn't even considered looking in the auditorium until the sound of the piano drew her in. And there, to her surprise, was Troy Bolton hiding behind a custodian cart in the rear of the theater.

"Hey!", she exclaimed as she walked up behind him, causing him to jump in surprise. "So you decided to sign up for something?"

"Uh... no. You?"

"No."

"Um... why are you hiding behind a mop?"

What could he tell her? That he was stalking his ex-girlfriend, well, ex-best friend, really, and oh, yeah, she just happened to be the mother of his child. Sharpay went through enough during the last year of middle school. He didn't need to dredge up any of that again.

"Your friends don't know you're here, right?"

Well, that was true. "Right." His plunged his hands back in his pockets which was a true sign to anyone who knew him that he was being evasive.

The auditioning carnage continued up on the stage with Darbus interrupting and dismissing most of the students before they have a chance to finish.

"And for the lead roles of Minnie and Arnold we only have one couple signed up... Sharpay and Ryan, I think it might be useful for you to give us a sense of why we gather in this hallowed hall." She was obviously very proud of her two star dramatists. A high school drama teacher could wait a lifetime for students of the Evans twins' caliber.

Troy automatically ducked down behind the cart again and Gabriella followed his lead. Sharpay and Ryan rose and made their way to the stage while Troy and Gabriella slunk into two seats on the rear row to see better.

To Kelsi's surprise, the Evans' brought their own arrangement recorded on a CD which their assistants placed in the small stereo for them. After an odd warm-up routine, they were ready.

What followed was a peppy, campy, and upbeat version of Kelsi's song. And it was obvious from their performance that the twins were having fun with it and that they definitely had the talent to _play_ at the audition. Gabriella looked worried and Troy looked captivated. This was the first time he'd ever watched Sharpay perform since she had re-invented herself after...

"Are there any last minute sign-ups?"

Gabriella and Troy sneaked out of the auditorium and into the hallway. Suddenly, he had the perfect way to get back into Sharpay's life. "Gabriella, would you audition with me?"

"What?", she asked with disbelief written all over her face. She wanted to get to know him, but to perform in front of all those people... "I-I don't think I could do that."

"It'll be great", Troy told her with great enthusiasm. "You're a fantastic singer. We could do this, Gabriella."

Well, she did want to get to know Troy. "Okay", she said quickly, before she could change her mind. "I'll do it."

They reentered via the performer's entrance which lead them into the backstage of the theater.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Back on the stage, students were so overwhelmed by Sharpay and Ryan's performance that they were feeling quite disheartened, so Ryan decided to cheer them up in his own special way.

"Don't be discouraged. The theater club needs more than singers. It needs fans too. Buy tickets."

Kelsi ran up to Sharpay with an anxious expression on her face. "Oh, actually... If you do the part with that particular song, I imagined it much slow..."

"_If_ we do the part?", Sharpay cut her off. "Kelsi, my sawed-off Sondheim, I've been in many school productions. How many of your compositions have been selected?

"This would be the first."

"Which tells us what?"

"That I need to write more solos?"

"No. It tells us that you do not offer direction, suggestion or commentary. And you should be thankful that me and Ryan can lift your music out of its obscurity. Are we clear?" Sharpay snapped at the small girl so sharply that she physically shrank back and landed on a hard-back chair.

"Yes, ma'am. I mean, Sharpay."

Sharpay lifted the jewel-encrusted microphone to her lips and said, "Nice talking to you."

She flounced away without an ounce of guilt in her light step. For as diminutive and quiet as Kelsi seemed, Sharpay would never forgive her for what happened in eighth grade.

_Nervously, Sharpay walked into the office of East Middle School with the sealed envelope in her hand, the envelope from her doctor with a note stating what physical limitations Sharpay was under due to her pregnancy. This would be forwarded on to the PE teacher. Because of her slight frame and the lucky popularity of baby doll tops, even though Sharpay was almost 20 weeks pregnant, it wasn't obvious to anyone who didn't already know. No one in the school knew about the pregnancy except for the principal, school counselor, school nurse and the PE instructor, and of course, her brother, Ryan, and ... well, Troy. She didn't like thinking about him anymore._

_There were no adults in sight and Kelsi Nielson, a girl she'd seen in class, but rarely spoken with, was sitting at the front desk._

"_Hi, I need to give this to the nurse." She nervously cleared her throat and added, "Mrs. McMurtry."_

"_They're all in a big meeting right now. I'm the only one here, but I'm the student aid", she said quickly. "I could probably help you."_

"_Well..." Sharpay was fingering the envelope, trying to decide what to do. "I'm late for class already", she said mostly to herself. "You promise to give it directly to Mrs. McMurtry?"_

_Kelsi nodded solemnly. "Oh, of course... absolutely."_

_Sharpay smiled slightly as she handed over the envelope and said thank you before quickly leaving the office. Kelsi held that plain, white envelope with Mrs. McMurtry's name clearly written in block print. She held it for a long time and wondered what could possibly be so important that would make the head cheerleader that nervous. And well... she'd never liked cheerleaders anyway. Kelsi picked up the letter opener. What would it hurt just to have a little peek. She quickly sliced open the envelope. There were plenty of blank ones around and she could easily copy that block lettering in Mrs. McMurtry's name when she replaced it. Her eyes grew wide when she saw what the letter said._

_Two days later, the entire school knew that Sharpay Evans, Student Council Member, Chorus Member, Head Cheerleader, and honor roll student was pregnant._

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"Any last minute sign-ups?", Ms. Darbus called out one more time to the nearly empty auditorium.

"This is our chance", Troy whispered to Gabriella as he dragged her out with him from their hiding place.

"We'd like to audition, Miss Darbus", Troy called hesitantly.

"Yes?", she spun around and stared with surprise at the young basketball star. "Troy Bolton? Where is your sports posse? Or whatever it's called?"

"Team", he mumbled quietly.

"We take these shows very seriously here at East High, so if this is some sort of dare or a joke..."

"Oh no, ma'am. It's not. We want to audition."

Troy stepped forward and had to pull Gabriella along with him. Kelsi was standing at the piano, gathering up her materials and preparing to leave when she heard them.

"I-I can play for them, Ms. Darbus."

"Very well."

The drama teacher sat back down in her seat in the audience and told them to start. They sang the song beautifully together at Kelsi's much slower pace, rather than the upbeat tempo of Ryan and Sharpay's audition. Ms. Darbus watched with a stony expression on her face, not giving away anything during the entire performance.

"Bolton, Montez... you have a callback. Kelsi, give them the duet from the second act. Work on it with them." Darbus stood majestically from her seat and walked out of the theater without a second thought.

Kelsi excitedly rose and started looking through the sheet music for the correct song. "If you guys want to rehearse, I'm usually here during free period and after school. You can come and rehearse anytime." She handed them the music which they numbly accepted.

_What have I got myself into?_, Troy thought as a worried look settled on his face.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"We're home!", Sharpay called into the empty house as she and Brandon entered through the side door which led directly into the kitchen. The house was empty as usual. Ryan was at his tap class and her parents were ... Lord knows where. For all she knew, they could be out of the country. In fact, Sharpay had discovered the best way to find out their schedule was to call her father's secretary and ask her. She could smell the fragrant aroma of a casserole that she knew would be awaiting them in the warming drawer beside the oven. Maria always remembered them, even if her parents didn't.

Brandon ran quickly into the room, obviously searching for something, his little Wiggles backpack jangling up and down with his quick steps. He ran directly over to the small crate in the corner of the kitchen and fell down on his knees to open it up. A small ball of fluff shot out and leaped into his lap, licking all over his face.

Sharpay had to smile at a sight which was both cute and repulsive at the same time.

"Brandon, baby, don't let Boi lick your teeth. That's disgusting. Keep your mouth closed."

By this time, Brandon had fallen onto his back and the tiny Yorkshire terrier was standing on the little boy's chest while continuing to lathe love upon him in the only way a dog could, by drowning him in saliva. Brandon had gotten an extreme case of the giggles because not only was the dog's attention extremely funny to him, but Boi was also managing to tickle the boy's ribs with all four of his little feet.

"Okay, okay... but we really should take him out. Who knows how long the poor thing's been locked up?"

Sharpay helped her son up and they escorted Boi out into the backyard where he quickly took care of his business. Then, she sat back in one of many Adirondack chairs which littered the yard and watched as Brandon and Boi amused each other, chasing back and forth across the large manicured lawn. She never ceased to be amazed at how perfect he was --- from his strong little legs, which never seemed to lose their summer tan to the top of his sandy colored hair, which always seemed to look shaggy no matter what she did. He looked at her at that moment and smiled, his bright blue eyes twinkling in the afternoon light. Troy's eyes, she reminded herself. Troy's unruly hair ... Troy's smile. Brandon was like a little Troy clone, but she couldn't bring herself to blame him for that. After all, you could say many things about Troy Bolton, but ugly was not one of them.

_The summer of 2004... She and Troy spent nearly every waking moment together, but since they had been playing together since they were small children, no one took any notice. Their experimental kissing at the beginning of the summer had quickly escalated from gentle touching to sexual fondling in a matter of weeks. At the 4th of July celebration, while their families were watching the neighborhood fireworks, Troy and Sharpay were discovering fireworks of their own. That was the first time they performed oral sex on each other. _

_By the beginning of the last month of summer vacation, they thought they were ready for full blown sexual intercourse._

_They met like they did every morning at Troy's house. His dad was at a coach's conference that week and his mom was at work so they were all alone as usual. Where as their previous fumblings had taken place in the tree house, Troy thought that was tacky for their 'first time', so they went to his room. He'd actually gone to the trouble of cleaning it that morning --- well, he stuffed all his dirty clothes in the closet, at least. After a few tentative kisses, they slowly undressed each other and Troy guided her back to lie on the bed. _

_She was so scared, she couldn't look at him. "W-what about protection?"_

"_Condoms?" She nodded. "I-I don't have any, but don't worry. I'll ... uh ... pull out before ... you know..." She nodded again._

"_'Kay." It was barely above a whisper._

_He kissed her again and settled on top; her legs parted automatically when his weight pressed down on her. _

_Troy shifted a little in preparation. _

_Sharpay was visibly shaking and had her eyes squeezed tightly shut._

"_Shar...", he whispered into the neck. "You're shaking. We don't have to..."_

"_No", she cut him off. "I-I want to... I really do." She opened her eyes to look at him and nodded encouragingly._

_They took the final step._

"_Wow...", Troy exhaled as he flopped down on the small twin bed beside her. He glanced over and noticed she hadn't moved. "It ... uh ... was over pretty fast. Sorry... you didn't ... uh ... finish."_

"_It's okay", she said quickly. Sharpay was staring up at the ceiling, marveling at the constellations so meticulously painted there. Someone, probably Mrs. Bolton, had spent a lot time getting them just right._

"_Hey, I didn't hurt you, did I?" Troy propped himself up on one elbow to study her face._

"_No." She was quick to assure him. "It was ... different ... is all, but it didn't hurt."_

_He looked down at her stomach and chest and crinkled his nose. "Umm... sorry about the ... mess." Grabbing a handful of tissues from the box on his nightstand, he started wiping up the pungent, milky substance. Troy looked up when he noticed that she had moved her hand up to her face. She was wiping away a tear and he swallowed hard at the sight._

"_Oh, Shar... I'm so sorry. I did hurt you, didn't I?"_

_To his surprise, she started laughing._

_This was just what she needed to break the awkwardness of the situation. _

"_No, silly. That wasn't a tear. You've ... uh ... got quite a range."_

"_Ohhhh! God, that's really gross."_

"_Yeah, it is. I think there's some in my hair too." _

"Sharpaaaay?"

She came out of her daydream to find Ryan waving his hand in front of her face, obviously, not for the first time.

"Oh, sorry. When did you get home?"

"Just a few minutes ago. Boy, that must have been a good memory. You had the biggest smile on your face."

A scowl instantly replaced any hint of a residual smile and she stood up quickly, smoothing out her already perfect hair. "I wasn't smiling", she snapped. "And I don't have any good memories about Troy Bolton." Sharpay spun around and marched by him into the house. Calling over her shoulder, "Stay here with Brandon for a few more minutes. I'll fix snack."

Ryan stood there watching her retreating back before puzzling to himself, "I never said anything about Troy Bolton."

**TBC**

Author Notes:

I'll apologize now for any delays in future updates. This is the first time I've tried to stick so closely to any of the original movies' plotlines. And it's hard to work my plot into that structure. For example, the 'my sawed-off little Sondheim' scene is word-for-word straight from the movie. Yes, Sharpay was being a bitch, so I had to include that flashback to explain why she was being such a bitch. I actually think that worked out well. And in the last chapter, in the scene where Taylor and Gabby are comparing nail beds... the only point to that one was when Taylor said that she didn't really know Troy since she didn't come from the same middle school as him. That was to show that most people don't know or if they know, they don't care that he's the daddy. Remember, boys are dogs and the girl bears all the responsible in a relationship (done with my preaching).

Oh, and I really do think Troy has this nervous twitch with his hands. He puts his hands into and out of his pockets when he's lying --- just watch the movie and you'll see.

And finally, a special shout-out to Bl1SSFuln3ss, who hit the proverbial nail on the head when she made this comment about Gabriella, "she may not admit it and she's a geek on the outside, but she's a cheerleader on the inside."

You said it, sister.


	5. What do you know?

**What We Keep Hidden**

_A High School Musical Fanfiction_

_by GimmeABeat_

**Chapter 5: What do you know?**

"Callback?! Ah!!", Sharpay screamed and started frantically fanning herself, all the time staring at the drama club bulletin board.

Ryan stared in disbelief at the sheet and started reading aloud, very slowly, "Callback for the roles of Harold and Minnie, next Thursday during free period. Ryan and Sharpay Evans; Gabriella Montez and Troy Bolton."

"Is this some kind of joke? They didn't even audition!"

At that moment, Chad Danforth and a few other members of the basketball team walked up. Chad, for one, was thrilled to see his former friend, now an enemy, in obvious distress.

"What's wrong?", he asked gleefully. Chad leaned forward to read the callback sheet. "What?!", he sneered and then stormed off while Jason and Zeke stared at the board in disbelief.

Sharpay gave one final, "Uhh!", before she stomped away too.

Sharpay angrily paced back and forth in front of the round lunch table filled with drama club members. Their table was in the balcony area of the lunchroom which normally suited Sharpay perfectly since she liked to look down at all the _little people_.

"How dare she sign up! I've already picked out the colors for my dressing room."

Ryan was meticulously arranging his plastic silverware on the paper napkin beside his plastic lunch tray, but he paused to add, "And she hasn't even asked our permission to join the drama club."

Sharpay slammed the palm of her hand down on the table, causing Kelsi to jump. "Someone's gotta tell her the rules."

"Exactly", Ryan said calmly. Then, with a puzzled look on his face, added, "And what are the rules?"

"Ohhh!" Sometimes, her brother was such an idiot!

Ryan gave Kelsi a questioning look and took a sip of his milk. Sharpay turned to look down on all those little people in disgust. This was just wrong.

Down below another drama was playing out. Inspired by the revelation that Troy had auditioned for the school musical, Zeke Baylor had picked this moment to confess his own secret passion --- baking. Chad wrinkled his nose in distaste.

"What?"

"I love to bake! Strudel, scones, even apple pan downy. Someday, I hope to make the perfect crème brûlée."

His fellow basketball players and the hanger-on cheerleaders told him in no uncertain terms that they weren't interested in hearing their friend's confession. However, other similar confessions were popping up all over the cafeteria --- everything from hip-hop dancing to cello playing was revealed to an equally unreceptive crowd.

"Something's really...", Sharpay started as she observed these strange happenings from her position above the throng.

"...not right", Ryan provided as he joined her.

"...wrong!", she finished for herself. "We need to get things back where they belong."

Taylor and Gabriella exited the lunch line at a lull in the cafeteria hubbub. And Gabriella felt every eye turn toward them.

"Why's everybody staring at you?", she asked Taylor.

"Not me ... you", Taylor told her nonchalantly.

Gabriella's eyes grew wide. "Because of the callbacks?" Taylor raised her eyes in a duh gesture.

She knew she shouldn't have let Troy talk her into auditioning. "I can't have people staring at me; I really can't."

Sharpay walked commandingly down the stairs, like a queen surveying her kingdom. When Gabriella saw the evil look the little blonde was throwing at her, she immediately turned to get away from her, only to slip on some split milk. She flung her arms up in the air to regain her balance. Unfortunately, Gabriella was carrying a food-laden tray in her hands and her lunch went flying, up and back, into the air. A paper tray filled with goopy, cheesy nachos landed directly on Sharpay's pink floral blouse.

Gabriella tried to say she was sorry, but Sharpay's loud scream made it impossible to discern if the apology was even heard.

Troy noticed the commotion and saw Sharpay's blonde head in the middle of it. He started to walk toward her, but Chad interfered.

"You do not want to get into that, man. Too much drama." Despite being upset with his friend about the whole musical thing, he still felt a need to protect him.

"Yeah", Troy agreed and let himself be lead away.

Ms. Darbus appeared from out of nowhere. "What is going on here?", she bellowed.

"Look at this!", Sharpay shrieked, indicating her ruined blouse. "That Gabriella girl just dumped her lunch on me! On purpose. It's all part of their plan to ruin our musical. And Troy and his basketball robots are obviously behind it. Why do you think he auditioned?" She sighed and continued in a disheartened tone, "After all the hard work you put into this show. It just doesn't seem right."

Sharpay turned and walked off while Ms. Darbus seemed to seriously consider everything she'd just heard.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Chad had finally managed to get Troy alone.

"What's up?", Troy asked obliviously.

"_What's up?_", Chad repeated back to him and then started counted off the problems. "Let's see. You missed free period workout to audition for a heinous musical. And suddenly, people are confessing." Zeke picked the wrong time to walk by and Chad grabbed him by the collar and hauled him over to Troy. "Yeah... and Zeke? Yeah, Zeke is baking ... crème brûlée."

"What's that?", Troy asked as he looked down at the small white ramekin Zeke was holding.

"Oh, it's a creamy custard with a caramelized surface. It's really satisfying."

"Shut. Up. Zeke!", Chad barked.

"Look...Do you see what's happening here, man?" Chad followed Troy over to a table where Troy was opening up his brown-bagged lunch. "Our team is coming apart because of your singing thing. Even the drama geeks and the brainiacs suddenly think that they can ... talk to us. Look, the skater dudes are mingling."

He pointed over to where the skate board aficionados were talking to some cheerleaders and basketball players.

"Suddenly people think they can do other stuff. Stuff that's not their stuff. You're thinking about show tunes when _we've_ got a playoff game next week." Chad started to get up, but stopped when a thought occurred to him. "Does this have anything to do with Sharpay?"

The wide-eyed look in Troy's eyes was all the answer Chad needed. He angrily pushed his tray away from him, got up and walked away.

Chad slammed his locker door and then angrily realized he'd left a book he needed inside. He tried three times to get the door open and sadly sank down to the floor trying to get himself under control. They had always been so happy together --- the three of them, like The Three Musketeers or The Three Stooges. God, The Three Stooges...

_Chad opened the kitchen door and ran inside. Troy's house really was like a second home to him and even though he hadn't been here in over two months, he went right in like always. _

"_Hello? Anybody here?" No answer. "Hey, Time for Time Force, man!" He knew that would get him. Even though they were too old for Power Rangers, Chad knew Troy still secretly watched it on Saturday mornings._

_Coach Bolton walked into the room, carrying some sort of greasy automotive part and glanced up at him in welcome. "Hey, Chad! When did you get back?"_

"_Last night, Coach. I was looking for Troy. Do you know where he is?"_

"_Ohhh... He's probably up in the tree house with Sharpay. They spend most of their time up there. Go on up!", he encouraged as he tried to find a safe place to lay the greasy component of, what was once, his carburetor. "I'm sure they've missed you as much as you've missed them."_

"_Sure thing, Coach." He started to run out, but stopped and pulled something out of the plastic bag he was carrying. "Hey, I brought you something for your collection." Chad placed a small Minnesota Vikings shot glass on the granite island and ran out._

"_Awesome", Jack cooed as he picked up the glass and groaned when he realized he'd just coated the thing in grease._

_Chad put the bag between his teeth so he could more easily climb the rope ladder. As he approached the top, he paused for a second, still on the ladder, as he tried to understand what he was hearing._

"_Oh, that's feels good." That was Sharpay's voice, but she sounded different ... huskier, maybe._

"_You like that?" That was definitely Troy, but he sounded different too ... older somehow._

_Chad started climbing again._

"_Oh, yeah..."_

"_You're gonna come for me, Shar. You're getting close; I can feel it."_

"_Yesssss..." Her voice was breathy, panting._

"_Oh God, you're squeezing me so mu...Aaahhh!"_

_Chad walked directly into the small room, still not understanding the sounds he had been hearing._

"_Oh my God!", Chad screamed at his two friends who were currently locked together in the world's oldest dance. _

_They broke apart immediately and Sharpay grabbed her shirt to cover herself while Troy stumbled into his shorts._

"_Chad." Troy tried, unsuccessfully, to sound casual. "When'd you get back, man?"_

"_I-I can't... I can't talk to you now." Chad ran out of the room, not caring that he dropped his bag. _

_Troy scrambled after him, but Sharpay's questioning voice caught him up short._

"_Just stay here, Sharpay. I need to talk to him."_

_She shakily started to get dressed and only when she'd pulled on her shirt did she look over at the ever-present box of tissues and realize that she had no need of them today. He hadn't pulled out. Well, one time probably wouldn't make any difference. Would it?_

_Troy caught up with Chad in his front yard and he reached out to grab his friend's arm to stop him. Chad angrily jerked away and glared at his best friend with a look of betrayal on his face._

"_Chad, let me explain", Troy tried._

"_Explain, what? I think it was pretty clear. You were fucking Sharpay. God, I can't believe you'd do this to me." He wasn't running away anymore, but he certainly wasn't standing still. He started pacing back and forth in front of Troy in long, angry strides._

"_Do what to you, Chad?" Then, his eyes went wide. "Oh, no. Do you like Sharpay, too? I-I didn't know man; I'm sorry. Really, I am."_

"_What?", he snapped. "I'm not interested in _her_, man. But you chose her over me, don't you get it? Once you get with a girl, the rest of your friends get forgotten."_

"_That's not true. It's still the three of us, Chad. You know, 'All for One and One for All'. Or maybe", Troy was trying to sound light, "we're more like The Three Stooges instead of The Three Musketeers, right?"_

"_Yeah? Well, Curly never walked in on Moe screwing Larry!" He took off again._

_Troy ran after him, trying anything to appease his oldest friend. _

"_Don't be like this, Chad. I'll do anything. I swear... just come back."_

_No one noticed the girl who climbed silently down the ladder and went home alone._

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Coach Bolton was avidly reading the newspaper while eating his lunch. Little did he know the surprise that was quickly storming her way to his office. Then, in a flash of purple and paisley, Ms. Darbus swept in.

"All right. Cards on the table. Right now", she demanded.

"Huh?"

"You're tweaked because I put your stars in detention and now you're getting even."

"What are you talkin' about, Darbus?" He casually leaned forward and dropped his paper on to the desk while he continued to eat his sandwich.

"Your all-star son turned up at my audition. Now I give every student an even chance which is a long and honorable tradition in the theater. Something that you wouldn't understand. But", she raised her finger in the air for emphasis, "if he is planning some sort of a practical joke in my chapel of the arts..."

The Coach interrupted her and said confidentially, "Troy doesn't even sing."

"Oh, well, you're wrong about that", retorted Darbus. "But I will not allow my _Tinkle Town_ musicale to be made into a farce."

"Twinkle Town?", Bolton echoed, barely able to contain his mirth.

"See? I knew it." She angrily put her glasses back on. "I knew it!", she repeated more fervently.

"Sounds like a winner", Coach called after her with his mouth full of food. "Good luck on Broadway."

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"Is Sharpay really, really mad at me? I said I was sorry", Gabriella moaned to Taylor.

They were sitting together at a lunch table as Gabriella was finally getting a chance to finish her lunch, sans nachos.

"Look, the way I understand it ... no one has ever beaten out Sharpay for a musical."

"I wasn't trying to beat anyone out."

"You won't convince Sharpay of that. I'm telling you, if that girl could play both Romeo and Juliet, her own brother would be aced out."

"I told you the audition just happened, but I liked it. A lot", she added with a small smile as she remembered how it felt to sing with Troy.

"Liked _it_ or liked _Troy Bolton_?"

Gabriella just shrugged shyly. "Did you ever feel like there's this whole other person inside you just looking for a way to come out?"

"Now you really do sound like Sharpay", Taylor said wickedly.

Gabriella's eyes grew wide when she realized that Taylor was referring to Sharpay's middle school pregnancy. However, the ringing bell interrupted any further discussion and lunchtime was officially over.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Sharpay jerked open her bright pink locker door, not noticing the piece of folded paper that fluttered down to the floor. She cringed in disgust at her ruined blouse in her locker mirror, brightly surrounded by battery-powered accent lights. Suddenly, Zeke Baylor appeared next to her, leaning on the door like it was something he did everyday.

"Hey Sharpay, I thought since Troy Bolton is gonna to be in your show..."

Sharpay pointed her finger at the tall boy with malice and vowed, "Troy Bolton is not in my show."

She reached into her locker and pulled out a clean top and held it up to her to see how it looked.

"Okay, um...", Zeke continued, undeterred, "Well, I thought maybe you could watch me play ball sometime or something."

"I'd rather stick pins in my eyes." Ever since Troy's betrayal, she'd vehemently hated all forms of sports.

"Wouldn't that be awfully uncomfortable?" Just then, he noticed the paper lying on the ground and bent down to pick it up, narrowly missing Sharpay's locker door on his way back up. "This yours?"

Sharpay grumbled under her breath, but took the paper, all the same. She quickly snapped it open and skimmed the contents, seething at what she read. Folding it closed, when she sensed Zeke watching her, she shouted out at him.

"Evaporate, tall person!" Then, turning on her heels, she stormed away.

"I bake ... if that helps", Zeke shouted after her.

He leaned his head back against her locker. This was a stupid idea. Sharpay Evans had never liked him and to be honest, he didn't particularly like her. However, Chad had this genius idea that he, Zeke Baylor, could somehow run some interference between Sharpay and Troy. He sighed and shook his head. He didn't understand any of this. She, obviously, hated Troy; so why would Chad think they needed to be broken up?

**TBC**

Author's Notes:

Zeke... dear old Zeke. I had forgotten that he was the one who called her the "ice princess" on that first day back at school and you could say he was just trying to be cool, but I still think it's odd. Why make a statement like that when she was close enough to possibly hear it, if you were hoping to get together with her later?


	6. Meeting and Remembering

**What We Keep Hidden**

_A High School Musical Fanfiction_

_by GimmeABeat_

**Chapter 6: Meeting and Remembering**

The look of anger was still on Sharpay's face as she followed the instructions on the note and walked up the stairs onto the rooftop garden. Troy was waiting for her there.

"So, I'm here", she announced curtly. Then, taking the time to look around at the beautiful flowers and plants growing, she added thoughtfully, "Wow, it's like a jungle up here."

"Yeah, just like that cafeteria." Troy was standing casually with his hands on the bars of the metal banister. Then, noticing her unblemished blouse, he added, "You changed."

She joined him at the railing. "Yeah... luckily, I had a change of clothing in my locker." She self-consciously smoothed out some invisible wrinkles on her clean white blouse.

He looked incredulous. "You keep extra clothes in your locker?"

Sharpay narrowed her eyes at him. "Well...", she sighed in irritation. "I never know when Brandon will manage to spit up or puke on me ... or just rub his grim-encrusted fingers all over my clothes. So I learned the hard way to be prepared."

Troy looked chagrin. "I-I'm sorry, Sharpay..."

She waved him off and looked distractedly around the rooftop. "So, this is your private hideout?"

"Yeah. Thanks to the science club, which means my buddies don't even know it exists."

"You pretty much have this school wired, don't you, Troy? Seems to me everyone on campus wants to be your friend." Her tone was biting.

"Look, Sharpay... I wanted to explain why..."

"Why you and your little girlfriend are trying to take over my life?", she snapped out and then paced away from him to give herself some distance.

"That's not true. That's not it at all. And she's not my girlfriend; I barely know her." He followed her over to where she now sat, anxiously, on a bench, ready to bolt at any moment. "I-I wanted to find a way to be closer to you, okay?" He ran his hand through his hair and she watched him closely. Despite, their estrangement, Sharpay still knew him better than anyone and she knew if he was lying to her, those hands would be plunging in and out of his pockets, uncontrollably. They weren't so she relaxed a little.

"B-be closer to me?" Her eyes met his.

"Yeah, I-I feel terrible about everything and I want to make it right." He took both her hands in his and was pleased when she didn't pull back.

"So... you think auditioning with Gabriella Montez to be in _my_ musical will make up for abandoning me when I was pregnant with your son ... for letting the entire school think I'm some slut while you walk around being the big _playmaker dude_?" She angrily jerked her hands away from him and stood up.

"Please, you've got to listen to me. Please, Sharpay." His voice was pleading now.

"I-I can't trust you again, Troy ... not with my heart; you've already ripped it apart once."

She turned to walk away.

"What about Brandon?"

Just the sound of her son's name brought a smile to her face. She stopped, but didn't turn back.

"I'll bring him over after school tomorrow; it's all he's been talking about all week. And Troy... if you care at all, don't show up at the callbacks. Give me that, please."

Troy smiled sadly as she walked off. He'd show her; she just didn't understand. He'd show her he could be more than just some basketball guy. If he had the guts to break away from his friends and do this with her, she'd know he really cared.

Except for his monumental slip on New Year's Eve, Troy was pretty proud of his behavior recently. He'd reconnected with Sharpay and was trying very hard to be more of a father to Brandon, even if, their meeting last fall was nothing short of serendipity.

_It was a Saturday morning in late fall and the morning air was crisp and clear. Chad and Troy were playing two-on-two with some guys they met at the city park. They were winning, of course, up by five baskets, in fact. A wild throw sent the ball flying off the blacktop and onto the grassy field of the adjacent playground. Chad ran after it and disappeared from sight behind a large cypress tree. After waiting for four or five minutes, the other guys decided they had been humiliated enough and this was a good time to end the game. Troy went over to find Chad and his ball._

"_Hey, check out this kid! He's got some moves", Chad said, by way of greeting when Troy walked up._

_Chad was crouched on the ground with a little boy, a toddler really. He had sandy-brown hair that stuck up all over his head and smiled up at Troy with the bluest of blue eyes. Where had he seen those eyes before?_

"_He's amazing", Chad continued. "Watch this." Chad threw the ball to the boy who caught it easily even though it was larger than his head. "Okay, kid. Try to get by me."_

_The little boy took a step back and then, started slowly dribbling the ball with first one hand and then, the other. He came closer to Chad who was stooped down to his level. The boy faked right, then broke left and dribbled the ball by him._

_Chad looked up at Troy with a big smile on his face. "Ain't he amazin'? I couldn't do that move 'til seventh grade."_

_The boy held onto the ball proudly and beamed up at Troy with a wide smile showing a mouth full of bright white baby teeth. _

"_Hi there, little fella." He bent down on one knee, beckoning to the boy._

"_Troy, don't talk to him like he's a puppy", Chad scolded. Then, he addressed the boy. "Hey, dude. I'm Chad and dufus, there, is Troy. What's your name?"_

"_Brandon", said his tiny little boy voice._

_Then, an anxious call could be heard from the other side of the tree, "Brandon!"_

_The little boy, hearing his name, took off on his short little legs without a backwards glance, taking the ball with him. Troy and Chad followed and saw two blondes kneeling down next to the boy when they rounded the huge tree._

_The woman was hugging him tightly and telling him, "Oh Brandon, baby... don't ever wander off from Uncle Ryan."_

"_Yeah, Brand", Ryan put in, "I might get lost."_

_Sharpay shot her brother a warning glare, but before she could return her attention back to her son, saw Troy and Chad approach. She stood stiffly, but remained silent, with her hand on Brandon's shoulder._

_Troy and Chad were close enough now to see that the two blondes were Ryan and Sharpay Evans. And that meant the little boy was..._

"_Mommy, Uncle Ryan!", Brandon said animatedly, when he saw the two teenage boys approaching, "I was playing b-ball with them." He pointed proudly at Troy and Chad. "They say I got _moves_."_

"_Moves, eh?", Ryan asked as he watched the two basketball players drawing near._

"_Sharpay", Troy said, suddenly out of breath, even though his pick-up game had barely winded him._

"_Troy." Her tone was short, her gaze wary._

_Troy dropped to the ground at Brandon's feet and looked at the boy so intensely that the toddler backed up until he bumped into his mother._

"_Don't be scared", Troy said gently as he reached out a finger to touch his cheek. "You're Brandon." It wasn't a question, just a confirmation._

"_Silly... I said my name."_

_Troy smiled widely. "That's right, you did."_

_Brandon returned an identical smile. Sharpay said nothing, but held her hand firmly planted on Brandon's little shoulder._

_Then, Ryan, in a moment of uncharacteristic clarity, announced, "Hey, Brandon, how 'bout you and Chad show me some of those b-ball moves of yours?"_

_Chad gave Troy a 'Will you be alright' look, but he was too busy looking between Brandon and Sharpay to notice._

_Sharpay reluctantly released Brandon, but gave Ryan a warning stare which he understood completely --- don't lose my son and don't stay gone too long._

"_Wow, he's something; really growing up", Troy said lightly when he and Sharpay were alone._

"_Yeah... well, nearly two and half years will do that to a baby."_

"_I ... uh ... don't know what to say, Sharpay."_

"_Don't think there is much to say. You haven't bothered to see him since he was two days old, but I'll never forget the lovely card that you and Chad brought." Sarcasm was dripping from her beautifully glossed lips. "Congratulations on your new baby. Your _Friends_, Chad and Troy." She crossed her arms over her chest and waited._

_Troy had had over three years to think about what happened to him and Sharpay. Over three years to live with the guilt._

"_I-I'm sorry, Sharpay. I was stupid; I let other people tell me what was best for me without ever thinking about what was best for us."_

"_There is no **us**; there never was. When you were given the choice between me or Chad, you chose Chad. And that was way before either of us knew about the baby. So don't come back now after so long and try to make things right. It's too late, Troy."_

_She turned towards the basketball court and started to call out, but Troy grabbed her arm to stop her. In spite of everything, the feel of him was still electrical to her and she stopped and looked up to meet his eyes._

"_Sharpay, please. Give me another chance. If...if not for us, then for Brandon. Give me a chance to get to know him." He looked at her with such longing in his eyes that it nearly melted her resolve ... nearly._

"_I can't", she said, barely above a whisper. "Brandon! Ryan! It's time to go home." She pulled away from him and starting walking toward the court._

_Troy's shoulders slumped like the weight of world just hit him. His head sagged down and unshed tears filled his eyes. Then suddenly, something was clamping onto his legs, stopping him from moving. He looked down at a blurry figure and had to blink several times to clear his vision. _

"_I had fun playing with you, Troy. I like b-ball; it's fun."_

_Troy reached down a shaky hand and ruffled Brandon's hair. "Yeah, I had fun too, buddy. Hey, Brandon, be good to your mom, okay? She's awfully special. Y-you'd better head on back to her; it's time to go home."_

"_Okay, see ya, Troy." And then, he was gone. _

_Chad's voice was the next thing he heard. "You ready, Troy?"_

_Embarrassed, he swiped at his eyes before responding, "Yeah, I'm ready."_

_However, before he could move, he heard Sharpay's voice over his shoulder, where she'd been standing watching him. "We come here every Saturday morning --- just so you know."_

_He straightened his shoulders and turned toward her, but she was already heading away, holding Brandon's hand and walking toward the parking lot. It wasn't much, but it was something and it was a start._

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

It was a typical morning in the Bolton household with its three occupants frantically trying to get to their required destinations on time --- Coach Bolton and Troy to school, though they didn't ride together (that was totally uncool) and Mrs. Bolton to her office in downtown Albuquerque.

Lucy was sitting at her old-fashioned vanity table, putting on conservative pearl studs in her ear lobes, when Jack walked out of the bathroom, threading a belt through his pants' loops as he looked for his shoes.

"Luce? Where are my shoes?"

She responded flatly with the answer that every wife and mother in the world gave in such a situation. "Where you left them."

"Ha, ha. Seriously, I'm going to be late for a faculty meeting."

"Oh, speaking of meetings...", Lucy said nervously, fiddling with her earring.

"Yeah?" Jack stopped and braced himself for what was coming. Since Lucy had become a senior partner at Whemley and Garcia, she'd been spending more and more late nights at work, mostly in, what she described as, useless meetings.

Lucy took a deep breath. "Brandon's coming to spend some time with Troy today. Sharpay said she'd bring him over after school." It all came out rushed in one breath. The woman who could study blood splatter patterns used in criminal defense cases like a seasoned beat cop wouldn't even meet her husband's eyes.

"Brandon...", Jack mumbled as he dropped to sit on the bed. "That's the second time I've heard that name in as many days."

Ignoring that statement for the moment, she forged on. "Did you know that he was supposed to spend New Year's Eve with us?" She was watching Jack's reflection in the mirror.

"What?", he asked incredulously. "No, I didn't. Despite what you and Troy think Lucy, I'm not a heartless monster. I would have never suggested that trip if I'd know." He stood and walked over to the window, looking out at the basketball court. "God..." He swiped his fingers through his hair., just so he'd have something to do with his hands. "Yesterday, when I talked to Troy, I didn't even recognize my own grandson's name. Maybe, I am a monster."

He hadn't heard her approach, but suddenly, Lucy was at his back with her hands resting gently on his shoulders.

"It's not your fault, Jack. Maybe...maybe we shouldn't have been so quick to agree to their demands."

_Jack peered distastefully at the tray of puffy little pastries as Lucy removed them from the oven._

"_What is it?" He asked the question as if he was looking at some unidentified slimy creature, clinging to the underside of a rock._

_Lucy started to carefully move the pastries to a serving platter. "They're cranberry-brie bites and they're delicious."_

"_Mmmm. so are potato skins. Especially the ones you make with cheddar cheese, bacon bits and sour cream." He was staring at her with those sweet puppy dog eyes._

"_Jack, I am not making potato skins for Vance and Darby Evans. This is not a tail-gate party", she said sternly._

"_So what is this ... exactly?"_

_Lucy let out a breath. "To be honest, Jack, I have no idea. Darby called me up an hour ago and virtually insisted that they come over tonight."_

"_Wow, and you whipped up these puffy cheese things that fast?"_

"_Oh, be serious... They're frozen. I bought them at Trader Joe's."_

_Jack's eyes narrowed in understanding. "You mean you keep stuff like this in our freezer? Just in case the parents of Troy's best friend calls to see if we can patch things up between them."_

"_Yes and I don't really know why they're coming over, but I really do hope it's something like that. I don't know what happened between the two of them, but I don't think Troy and Sharpay have talked since the end of the summer and that was almost four months ago. Whatever their reasons..."_

_The sound of the doorbell interrupted them._

"_I'll get it", Jack announced as he snatched a cranberry-brie bite off the tray on his way. _

_He was almost to the door when he called with his mouth full. "Hey, this is good."_

_Lucy took a few more minutes to rearrange the platter to disguise the missing pastry and start the kettle on the stove for the tea. The Evans' loved tea._

_When she entered the living room, she immediately knew that this wasn't a casual visit. Jack was standing awkwardly by the doorway as if he didn't want to enter the room. Darby was sitting with Sharpay on the sofa. The girl had obviously been crying and if Lucy wasn't mistaken, so had her mother. _

"_Where's the boy?", asked Vance Evans. He stood by the mantel, a scowl on his worried face. _

"_Troy?", Lucy questioned him. She put the platter down on the coffee table in front of the two Evans women and then backed away. Something was very wrong._

"_What's going on here, Vance?" Jack asked as he finally entered the room. After all, this was his house. These people couldn't just come in and take over like this._

"_Let's wait until Troy gets here", was Vance's only response._

_Jack quickly walked over to the stairs and yelled up for his son. Lucy had already told him that Sharpay and her parents were coming over, but that didn't make him any faster to respond to the call. If anything, it probably made him move more slowly._

"_Yeah, Dad?", Troy addressed his father without looking at the others in the room._

"_Sit down, son, and let's find out what's going on."_

_Of all the things that were running through Lucy's head at this moment --- Troy bullying Sharpay at school, Troy ignoring Sharpay at school, Troy turning his back on his old friend because of Chad (that was the one she was betting on), what she heard come out of Vance Evans' mouth clearly trumped any of those thoughts._

"_Sharpay's pregnant."_

**TBC**

Author's Notes:

I think everyone should go back and watch the first movie again. I'm going through it scene by scene watching for how I can change this and that to fit my plot, but at the same time, stay within the constructs of the movie. For example, I changed the rooftop scene with Gabriella and Troy to be between Sharpay and Troy. I think it worked out pretty well.

I seem to be catching a lot of flak for using many of the actual scenes from the movie, but since this story runs, sort of, in the background of the 1st movie, I need to do it that way. It's quite a challenge to do this actually and see how little I can change to make to it work. So please understand and stick with me here. Thanks.

You guys have to check this out! "the road to damascus" sent me a PM about a story out of England. Go check out: thesun dot co dot uk

Then, search for "alfie" in the search box.

You won't believe this story about a 13 year old "da" in England. Be afraid, be very afraid.


	7. Revelations and Evasions

**What We Keep Hidden**

_A High School Musical Fanfiction_

_by GimmeABeat_

**Chapter 7: Revelations and Evasions**

A/N: Wow, I don't know about you guys, but was starting to get the shakes from ff withdrawal. Hope everything is back up now.

"_Sharpay's pregnant."_

_Jack got this incredulous look on his face and then, to the shock of everyone else in the room, started laughing. "Ha! You thought you had me, didn't you, Vance? Sharpay...pregnant! That's a good one."_

_No one else in the room was laughing, certainly not the Evans' and certainly not Troy, who sank back into the chair like his bones had just liquefied. Lucy wasn't laughing either because she happened to be watching her son at the instant Vance made his announcement. And the look on Troy's face, told her everything she needed to know._

"_Troy...", she said to her son in a low, controlled, and yet still, menacing voice._

_Jack was merrily wiping the tears from his eyes, tears of uncontrolled laughter when he noticed the look that was passing between his wife and son. Sharpay had started crying real tears and her mother was stoically sitting one foot, exactly, from her daughter, offering no comfort to her at all._

"_I-I-I'm sorry, Mom", Troy mumbled, looking down at the floor, unable to bare her scrutiny. "It's just ... we ..." He trailed off, unable to think of anything else to say._

"_I'm sorry", whispered Sharpay, apparently to anyone who would listen, as she was also staring at the floor. "I'm so sorry." Then, she bravely looked over at her mother, and implored, obviously not for the first time, "Please say something, Mommy. Please talk to me."_

_Darby seemed not to hear her daughter and instead, addressed the Boltons. "She's keeping it." Her voice was flat, emotionless. "She's already over four months along and we don't feel it would be morally right ... at this point ... to ..." There was no need to finish the sentence._

"_Four months?", Lucy asked, disbelievingly. "When did you find out?"_

"_You think this is something we would have kept from you?", snapped Vance. "We only found out today. Sharpay... would you like to explain yourself to these good people?"_

_She shook her head emphatically, but said in a small voice, one that reminded everyone how very young she was, "I was scared." And then, once again. "I'm soooo sorry."_

"_This is serious?", Jack was finally coming to grips with the conversation. "The two of you are only 13 years old! What the hell were you doing having sex?!"_

_Sharpay and Troy both jumped as if his words were a physical blow to them. Unable to handle the intense scrutiny, Sharpay stood and hastily ran out of the house, pausing for only an instant to lock eyes with Troy. Pain was reflected equally in both of their eyes. Troy wordlessly rose and walked silently upstairs._

"_Let them go", Vance said distractedly. "What we need to say will be easier without either one of them."_

_Lucy was able to maintain a semblance of calm, although later she would have no idea how she managed it._

"_What are we going to do?" She used the word, 'we', to, hopefully, convey to the Evans' that they were all in this together._

"_**We **aren't doing anything. That's why we're here. We understand from Sharpay that their little liaisons are over. That's really for the best, I think. Sharpay will have the baby. Sharpay will raise the baby. We want ... no ... we **demand **no interference from Troy or you. If I have to, I'll file a restraining order against him. Do I make myself clear?"_

"_I don't understand", Lucy asked. "Why are you doing this?"_

"_If we refuse any support from him, either monetary or emotional, he will have little grounds in the future, should there be some sort of custody issues. And I don't want that son of a bitch to ever come anywhere near my daughter again."_

"_Hey!", Jack bit out angrily. "There's no reason to use that kind of language."_

"_I think there's a damn good reason to being using all sorts of inappropriate language..."_

"_Oh, yeah!?"_

_The two men continued yelling at each other. Darby sat unmoving on the couch, having not uttered a word since entering the house. Lucy stood back and silently stared at her untouched platter of cranberry-brie bites and felt the loss of innocence reverberating through the room._

Jack turned to look his wife in the eye. "They didn't give us much choice, Lucy. But now..."

"Now?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Well, if Sharpay's willing to bring him over to visit with us, then maybe they've changed their minds."

"Or maybe, Vance and Darby just don't know. They never were very involved with their children. They were practically raised by their housekeeper; you know that." Lucy left Jack standing by the window and grabbed her blazer lying on the bed.

"True, but even we had no idea about what was going on between Troy and Sharpay three and a half years ago."

"You're right, but we can try to be more involved with our grandson now and I, for one, can't wait to see him again." Fully ready for work, Lucy returned to Jack and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "I'll be home earlier... but you do remember how to handle a toddler, don't you?" Before he could answer she was out the door and heading down the hall.

"Wait a minute!" A thought just occurred to him. "What do you mean, _again_?"

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"Let's go, guys! Make it sharp! To the chest, Come on! Pop it!"

Coach Bolton yelled at his team while they performed drills designed to sharpen their skills with the ball. "Come on, guys! Step on it! Let's go!"

He walked behind a line of players as they threw the ball back and forth between an opposing line facing them. "Come on, guys, focus! Focus! Get your head in the game!"

"Move it!" Jack stepped in and caught the ball right in front of Jason Cross, staring at him hard. "You seen Troy?"

"No, Coach." Jason stuttered in obvious fear of his coach.

Jack angrily threw the ball back at Jason and walked back down the line. "Come on! Let's go!"

Meanwhile, in the auditorium, the drama club was busily painting sets and sewing costumes. Gabriella sat at a small table with another girl, gluing sparkley jewels on a costume. Her feet were tapping out a beat, barely able to keep still. Troy was standing nearby, painting a box and smiling as the song he'd been singing the last couple of days kept swimming through his head.

Coach blew the whistle, ending today's practice. "That's it, guys. Let's hit the showers. Good hustle. Let's see that in the game."

Troy ran up, passing the entire team on their way to the showers. Chad slammed a ball, none too gently, into his stomach as he walked by.

"I, uh... think I'm gonna stay awhile. Work on some free throws."

Coach Bolton stood beside his team captain and refused to look at him. "Since you missed practice, I think your team deserves a little effort from you today." He turned around and walked out of the gym.

When he entered his office Jack was surprised to find Sharpay waiting for him. Although, he couldn't imagine Sharpay doing a Darbus and walking through a locker room full of sweaty, naked boys.

"Sharpay?"

She looked relieved. "Coach... Thank goodness. The locker room was empty when we came in. And now..."

Jack closed the door behind to shut out the loud noise of the team.

"We?" He looked around, but didn't see anyone.

"Chad told Brandon that Troy was in the gym and he took off, but I got trapped in here."

"Oh, I must have just missed him."

Sharpay stood up and hefted a large zippered bag onto the coach's desk. "I have some things to go over with you, anyway."

Troy was still shooting free throws when Gabriella entered the gymnasium.

"Wow, so this is your real stage", Gabriella observed as she walked across the court toward Troy.

He looked around at her and smiled. "Yeah. I guess you could call it that. Or just a smelly gym."

Troy handed the ball over to Gabriella. She bounced it once and threw the ball, sinking it on the first try.

"Whoa! Don't tell me you're good at hoops, too."

"You know I once scored 41 points at a league championship game.

"No way."

"Mm-hm. And the same day, I invented the space shuttle and microwave popcorn."

"Oh! Microwave popcorn. Ha-ha. Very funny."

He took the ball from her and sunk a perfect basket.

"I've been rehearsing with Kelsi."

"Me, too. And, uh, by the way, uh, I missed practice. So if I get kicked off the team it should be on your conscience."

"Hey", she exclaimed, "I wasn't the one who told you..."

"Gabriella, chill." He smiled widely at her, letting her know he was joking.

She reached out, grabbed the ball and started running away from him, but a high-pitched voice interrupted them.

"Trooooy!"

An automatic smile came to Troy's face when he recognized the voice. Both he and Gabriella looked over to see Brandon running across the gym carrying a kid-sized basketball.

"Brandon." Troy's eyes lit up and he dropped to the floor to greet him at his own level. "You've got your own ball. Wayta go, buddy!" He high-fived the boy in congratulations. Then, he reached up and turned Brandon's L.A. Laker's hat around to the back. Since Troy had given it to him for Christmas, the little boy always wore it.

"Mommy got it for me." He handed the ball over to Troy and he turned it over in appraisal.

"Very nice. Let's see what you can do with it."

They started playing simple little bouncing games together while Gabriella stood by quietly, having been forgotten.

"...he's allergic to dairy, so I packed a thermos with soy milk 'cause I didn't think you'd have any."

Sharpay was unpacking Brandon's bag as she inventoried everything she'd brought with her. Coach Bolton was nodding seriously and trying to write down everything she said.

"And he's doing really well with potty training..."

Jack's head snapped up. That wasn't something he wanted to go through again. "Potty training?"

She had pulled out a pre-folded Huggies pull-up with Go! Diego! Go! pictures on it. "Right. And he's really good about it, but..." She held the pull-up for Coach to see. "This is just in case. There's a complete change of clothes in here and a large Ziplock for any wet stuff."

"Oh... okay." Jack started scribbling again and trying to remember what he could about potty training. "Um... will he ask to go?"

"Usually, but if he's playing and having too much fun..."

"Right. We'll ask him."

"And then, there's the carseat..." She hefted the heavy molded plastic chair onto the desk.

"Wow", exclaimed Jack. "That's nicer than the seats in my car." He grazed his hand reverently over the soft suede leather of the Eddie Bauer designer safety seat.

"Uh yeah, nothing but the best for Vance Evans' grandson." Sharpay didn't bother to hide the sarcasm in her voice.

She started packing everything back into the small bag and Jack watched in amazement. Had all that stuff come out of there? Amazingly, Sharpay was able to zip shut the bag full of extra snacks, special friends (AKA blankie), soy milk, clothes, pull-ups, and everything else that Jack couldn't even remember.

Gabriella giggled as she watched Troy and Brandon play. Finally, they ran back to her and Troy was breathing overly hard, obviously hamming it up for Brandon's sake.

"You two are so cute." Then addressing Brandon, she said, "Hi, I'm Gabriella."

"I'm Brandon", he answered proudly. "And Troy's going to play with me all day ... til night-night time."

"Is he? Wow! That's really cool." She spoke to him in that irritating high-pitched baby voice that some people seem to adopt when speaking to young children.

"Brandon!", Coach Bolton's voice rang out. "Come tell your mom goodbye. She's about to leave." He was standing at the edge of the gymnasium, closely watching Troy and Gabriella.

Brandon ran over towards the coach and Troy heard his dad say to the boy, "She's in my office."

Gabriella watched Brandon disappear and then, turned back to Troy. "It's amazing..."

"What?", asked Troy, while watching Brandon's departing back.

"...how much your little brother looks like you. And you're so good with him --- most teenagers would just try to ditch them, not play with them."

"Oh..." Troy looked down at Brandon's basketball, not knowing how to respond. He continued quietly, not meeting her eyes, "Brandon's a great kid."

"Oh, I think you're the great one."

"Miss! I'm sorry, this is a closed practice." Jack was walking swiftly across the gym toward them.

Troy tired to laugh it off.

"Dad, come on. Practice is over."

"Not 'til the last player leaves the gym. Team rule." His tone said he would brook no opposition.

"Oh, I'm sorry, sir."

"Dad, this is Gabriella Montez."

She lifted her hand to shake his, but Coach didn't reciprocate. "Ah, your detention buddy", was his only response.

She awkwardly withdrew her hand and stood there a second, unsure of what to say.

"I'll see you later, Troy." Then, turning to the coach, added, "Nice meeting you, Coach Bolton."

He nodded silently and didn't respond until she was almost out of the gym. "You as well, Miss Montez."

"Dad, detention was my fault, not hers."

"That's not what this is about and you know it. I heard what she said, Troy. You can't play both ends against the middle. And you can't play with that little boy's heart like it's a toy."

"Dad, she's not a problem. She's just a girl."

"But you're not just a guy, Troy. You're a dad. What you do affects not only you, but that little boy too."

Troy inhaled to say something about how his dad didn't even know Brandon's name a few days ago, but bit back his words. Instead he exhaled slowly and said, "I-I don't know what to say... I'm sorry."

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."

"Yeah...", Troy nodded his head. "I've been hearing that a lot lately."

Jack sighed at his confused son. "Come on, Troy. Brandon's waiting."

Unknown to any of them, the rest of the team were standing out in the hall behind the door, listening to every word.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"...and this is my room", Troy announced as he ushered Brandon into his bedroom.

"Wow..." The little boy looked around the room in awe.

Every inch of usable wall space was covered with items related to sports, primarily basketball. The walls held posters of his favorite professional basketball stars and teams. Near the top of one wall, dozens of sports trophies stood, high and in a place of honor. The wall near Troy's dresser held framed photographs of Troy at various ages, usually holding a basketball. Brandon seemed mesmerized by one of pictures and he reached out his little fingers to touch it.

"That's me!", Brandon said excitedly.

Troy was dumbstruck as he looked at the photograph. It was so long ago that Troy didn't have any strong memories of the event, but he'd been told about it often enough. He had been about three years old and he was wearing a team jersey and kneeling on the ground next to a soccer ball. That had been the first team sport he'd ever played, but all he really remembered about it were the oranges that the moms used to bring for snack. He hadn't looked at that picture in years, but now that he looked closely at it, Brandon was right. Except for the cute way his mouth turned up in one corner, that could have been Brandon on his wall. Troy knew Brandon had Sharpay's smile; he'd noticed that the first time he saw him at the park, but he never realized where the rest of his looks originated.

"Oh, that's not you, buddy. That's me when I was your age."

Brandon looked at him like Troy had just told him he could do real magic, just like Harry Potter.

However, before they could continue their discussion of genetics, a feminine voice sounded from downstairs.

"Where's my favorite boy?"

"Meme!

Without waiting for Troy, Brandon tore out of the room and ran down the stars toward the sound of Lucille's voice.

"Meme! Meme!", Brandon screamed as he sailed into Lucy's waiting arms.

Jack stood nearby, staring in disbelief. "Luce... is there something you wanted to tell me?"

Still holding on tightly to Brandon, Lucille Bolton met her husband's eye with an abashed expression. However, instead of answering Jack, he gently pulled Brandon away from her and suggested that they all go to the kitchen for juice and a snack. After the four of them shared an afternoon snack which included juice and apple slices, Troy and Brandon headed out into the backyard, which left Jack and Lucy alone.

"Well...", Jack asked as soon as the door closed.

"Jack..."

"Don't Jack me... Wait, that didn't come out right." _God, I sound like Danforth._

She poured Jack and herself a cup of coffee and sat down to tell her story.

"I met him on the Saturday after Thanksgiving...", she started.

"Wait a minute", he interrupted. "You and Troy went Christmas shopping that day. I remember; you claimed you were buying my present, so I didn't go with you."

"Oh, Jack... You wouldn't have gone anyway. You hate shopping."

"That's true", he admitted. "So, go on. What happened?"

"It seems that our son had been living a double life. He'd been going to the neighborhood park every Saturday to meet Brandon and Sharpay."

"What!"

"They met accidentally back in the fall and Troy convinced her to let him meet them there, so he could get to know Brandon."

"And he told you about this, but not me?" He couldn't disguise the hurt look on his face.

"I'm sorry, Jack. He asked me what I would buy a toddler for Christmas and it didn't take much for me to work the rest out of him and convince him to take me with him."

"_There they are!" _

_Troy pointed to the edge of the park where a girl with long blonde hair was lifting a toddler out of his carseat. She had parked her pink Mustang on the road closest to the playground and as soon as Sharpay sat Brandon on the ground, he took off like a shot, running toward where Troy was standing._

_Brandon had to run across a large soccer field to reach Troy while Lucy stood watching in awe._

"_Oh my God, Troy. He's precious", she cooed._

_Brandon was wearing a green and white striped sweater with brown corduroys and perched precariously on his head was a green and brown tweed newsboy cap._

"_Hey, buddy." Troy gave him a high-five which had quickly become their signature greeting. "Where'd ya get that hat, man?" He playfully tipped the hat back on his head, almost knocking it off. "It makes you look just like..."_

"_Uncle Ryan gave me it." He pulled it back on at an angle; the way Ryan had showed him._

"_Yeah, Ryan... that's what I was thinking." _

"_Mrs. Bolton." Sharpay arrived breathless and she started nervously biting her lower lip._

"_Sharpay, dear", Lucy greeted her warmly and pulled the girl into her arms for a hug. Lucy felt her stiffen immediately and pulled back to study her face. "Let me look at you. You've grown up so much."_

_In a cold voice Sharpay asked, "Why are you here?" Turning to Troy, before Lucy could form an answer, she continued, "Troy? Why is she here?"_

"_Calm down, Sharpay. It's no big deal. Mom just wanted to meet Brandon is all."_

"_But how? I thought we agreed not to tell anyone about our meetings."_

"_Yeah, well... about that... you see..."_

"_I see that I still can't trust you is what I see." Then, looking down at her confused son, she announced, "Let's go, Brandon."_

_Lucille immediately stepped forward and with a pleading look on her face, said, "Please Sharpay. Don't do this. I don't understand why you're feeling threatened by my being here; but I promise you, I only wanted to meet my grandson."_

"_Grandson?", asked little Brandon. He'd been watching the adults talking, his head following the conversation back and forth between them while he stood in the middle. This was the first word he recognized. "That's me. I am grandson and there's Mommy and Uncle Ryan and Grand-mother and Grand-daddy." He said every word slowly and carefully, as if he'd practiced them many times before._

"_That's right, Brandon", Sharpay assured him. "He has problems saying Grandmother sometimes, but Mother..." Realizing that she was saying too much, Sharpay stopped talking._

_Lucy had knelt down to talk to Brandon. "I'm your grandmother too, Brandon."_

_He looked completely confused by this and she tried to explain. "Everyone has two grandmothers and two grandfathers." He looked up at Sharpay for conformation on this astounding piece of news and she nodded to him. "But usually, people call them by different names, so you don't get mixed up."_

_A little 'o' appeared on Brandon's mouth. "How about you call me, Meme?"_

"_Me-me." He tried out the foreign word on his lips._

"_Is that okay, Sharpay?", Lucy asked with trepidation. The blonde still had the power to end this meeting right now._

_Sharpay couldn't resist the pleading in Lucille's eyes and she gave a curt nod._

"_Perhaps you wouldn't mind if Brandon and I went over the swings and you two could talk?"_

"_Oh yes!" Brandon jumped up in air and pumped his arm wildly, something he had definitely picked up from Troy, not Uncle Ryan. He stopped suddenly and looked up at Sharpay with imploring eyes. "Mommy? Pleeeezz?"_

"_Okay ... for a little while", Sharpay told him as she reflexively pulled off his cap and tried to smooth down his unruly hair. Then, she gave him a kiss and Brandon and Lucy walked over the swings, hand in hand._

"_He seems to like her", Sharpay commented. _

_Troy had walked over to a nearby bench and sat down and now, Sharpay had followed him._

"_Mom's great."_

"_Yes, she is, but Brandon doesn't usually like strangers."_

"_Maybe he senses that she really cares for him."_

"_I suppose..." _

_Neither one of them had been looking at each other. Instead, they had both been studying the two at the swings. Now Sharpay turned away from them and fully faced Troy. _

"_What are you planning?" Her tone was accusatory._

"_Planning? What are you talking about? The only thing I'm planning is buying Brandon an L.A. Laker's baseball cap, so he doesn't wear that sissy-boy cap anymore." He eyed the small cap still held in Sharpay's hands._

_To his surprise, she chuckled lightly and smiled. She had a beautiful smile. "You're right; it is pretty _

_bad, but Brandon loves it because Ryan gave it him. It's hard to compete with that."  
_

"_I'm not trying to compete for him", Troy snapped, more harshly than he intended._

"_Then, what are you trying to do, Troy? Tell me the truth."_

_Troy stood quickly and walked a few steps away, trying to gather his thoughts. Then, he spun around and raised his arms in the air in a show of helplessness. "I-I just want to know him, okay? I feel like shit about how I've treated you and him and I'm trying to do better. That's all." He let his arms drop to his sides in a defeated gesture and stared down at the ground._

"_So you don't want to take him away from me?" Sharpay's voice reminded him of how she sounded on that horrible day in his living room when her parents brought her over to tell them about the pregnancy --- small and helpless._

"_No, no", he insisted. "I would never want to do that." He sat back down beside her and took both his hands in hers. "Why would you ever think that?"_

"_D-Daddy said you would. He said that despite our money, a judge would probably find your family more stable than ours and they could give Brandon to you." Troy was shocked; this was first he'd ever heard of this. "T-that's why I wasn't supposed to ever call you or talk to you or anything. Daddy said if you were never involved with Brandon and never offered us any money to help with him or wanted to spend time with him that that would go further than anything in convincing the courts to let Brandon stay with m-me." _

_Troy watched as tears started streaming down her face and she made an unladylike snort as snot mingled in with the tears. He hastily searched for a tissue or something, but found nothing. Sharpay quickly opened up her bag and pulled out a pack of travel wipes and blew her nose loudly into one. _

"_I always carry wipies. And now, my nose smells powder fresh, too." She chuckled mirthlessly._

_Troy tried to smile, but found that his facial muscles weren't cooperating. "Sharpay, you've got to believe me. I never wanted to take him from you. And I can't believe that's what was keeping us apart."_

_She dabbed at her mascara rimmed eyes and said with considerable control. "That's what was keeping you and Brandon apart. It's a whole different set of problems that's kept us apart."_

_Thinking of Chad and his other friends, Troy nodded silently._

"And you told him to call you, Meme?", Jack asked incredulously. "That's not much better than Memaw."

"Well, it's what I called my grandmother and if my mother was still alive, it's what Troy would call his. It's a family tradition."

"Sorry." Jack felt properly chastised.

"I should have told you; I'm sorry", Lucy admitted solemnly. "But I was afraid you wouldn't like it."

"You're right." Lucy looked up in surprise at his admonition. "That was before I met him. However..."

"However?"

"What if Evans goes through with his threat about the restraining order? No college would give him a second look if he has that kind of trouble on his record."

"I don't know, Jack, but it's been almost four years. Maybe his feelings have changed."

Jack didn't look convinced, but he gave Lucy a small smile and commented, "Can you believe how much Brandon looks like Troy?"

**TBC**

Author's Notes:

Why does Brandon call Lucy, Meme? I wanted something more unique than Granny or Grandma, so I checked the origins of the name Lucille. It's French; so I came up with this little idea in my head that Lucy's family, at some point, lived in Canada and so it's a family tradition to use the French names Meme and Pepe for Grandma and Grandpa, respectively.

As always, I'm amazed at everyone's support of this story and please keep it up. It's like music (sang by anyone, other than Vanessa Hudgens) to my ears.


	8. Transformation

**What We Keep Hidden**

_A High School Musical Fanfiction_

_by GimmeABeat_

**Chapter 8: Transformation**

"Was that for real, man?", Zeke asked while filling his Mountain Dew ICEE to the top of the domed lid.

"Yeah... Troy's got a kid?" This question came from Raymond. He was the starting point guard on the team, a short, wiry guy with sandy blonde hair. He'd just moved here at the beginning of the year from back east.

Jason tagged along quietly, munching on his huge apple fritter.

"I don't know why you eat that trash", Zeke commented to dark-haired boy. "I could make you a much better one."

Jason held up a bag to show Zeke his second pastry. "It's buy one, get one free after four p.m."

"Whatever...", Zeke tsked as he walked up the front counter.

Chad paid for his ICEE and they walked outside to the parking lot of the 7-11 convenience store. He drank a Suicide, which was a mixture of all the flavors on the machine. It started out looking like a rainbow, but in five minutes, it would look like a muddy clump of dirty snow. Chad looked around pensively at his friends before piling into Jason's beat-up Ford Taurus. A few of the guys from the basketball team always came to 7-11 for snacks after practice, but it just didn't feel right without Troy.

"Well?", Zeke prodded. Chad was Troy's best friend, but he wasn't being very talkative.

Finally, Chad, who was riding in the front passenger seat, answered. "Yeah... Troy's got a kid."

"But why's he hanging out with Sharpay's son?", asked Jason. He was driving with one hand on the wheel while he enthusiastically licked the pastry icing off the fingers of his other hand.

"Sharpay's son? What are you talking about, Jason?", Zeke leaned forward over his friend's shoulder to hear the answer. Everyone knew Sharpay had a kid, but what did any of that have to do with Troy.

"Well, that little boy in the gym with Troy was Brandon Evans, Sharpay's son. She brings him to Drama Club meetings after school all the time."

"Drama Club?", Chad asked incredulously. "Et tu, Brute?"

"Uh?" Jason was staring at Chad with his mouth hanging open.

"Keep your eyes on the road, man!"

"Dude! You're in the Drama Club?", asked Raymond from the backseat. And then, to Chad, he asked, "And you speak Latin? I know I just transferred here this year, but this is one strange school."

"No. I'm not in Drama Club. I'm in Darbus' _Detention_ Club. In fact I'm a founding member. I'm in detention at least once a week, so I see those drama geeks all the time. And that little boy on the court with Troy Bolton today was Sharpay Evans' kid, Brandon."

Light finally broke for two of the four people in the car. Zeke and Raymond simultaneously, exclaimed, "Damn."

"What? What'd I miss?", asked Jason as he careened through a redlight oblivious to the loud blare of horns from other motorists.

"We got to do something about this ... this mess that Troy's wrapped up in", Chad said, after happily realizing that they had survived their trip through the intersection. "This whole music thing is because of Sharpay, but first we need to get him away from that elevated-IQ princess ... Gabriela. And I know just how to do it and without the world knowing too much about Troy's business. But before anything else happens, the four of us have to swear a blood oath that this goes no further."

"What goes no further?", asked Jason.

"Blood oath?", Raymond nervously echoed. "Hey, I heard all about Albuquerque before I moved here. You guys aren't in some sort of gang, are you?"

Chad rolled his eyes at the absurd question. "No, Raymond. We're not in a gang. Okay, okay, no blood."

"But what about the rest of the team, they heard that stuff too?", Zeke asked.

"Not to worry", Chad assured them. "You three are the smartest guys on the team, next to me and Troy. We won't have any problems convincing them that they heard wrong. But we have to promise not to tell anyone that Troy and Sharpay have a kid. This goes no further than the four of us."

"Troy and Sharpay have a kid?", screamed Jason as he bounded the Taurus over a curb and came to a screeching halt six inches from a sign proclaiming "Best Green Chile Stew in Town".

"Make that the _two_ smartest guys on the team", Chad said with a groan.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"Wow, what's that?" Brandon pointed up into the highest oak tree in the backyard, staring in wonder at the wooden structure anchored in its limbs.

"That's my tree house." Then, remembering all the fun times he'd had there as a child, decided to add, "Your mom and I used to play there all the time when we were kids."

"Really?" Brandon's head was tipped back so far it looked like he would fall backwards any second. "Can _we_ play up there now?"

_Troy Bolton! What latent strain of insanity caused you to think it would be a good idea to let my son climb a rickety, old wooden ladder over 15 feet above the ground?_

Troy spun around at the sound of Sharpay's voice, but there was no one there. Maybe he was going crazy. With her voice still echoing in his mind, he turned back to a Brandon, who was watching him with expectation.

"Ummm, that's not a very good idea, buddy. How about we try the tire swing instead? It's really cool."

"Okay!", Brandon replied happily when he saw the large truck tire suspended by three long chains and hanging at the bottom of the large oak.

_Hey, look at me._ Troy thought to himself. _I just made my first good parenting decision and all it took was the fear of what Sharpay would do to me if Brandon got hurt._

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Lucy walked briskly to the kitchen door when she heard the quiet knock. She was holding a dishtowel and shifted it to her left hand as she opened the door.

"Sharpay? Why did you come to the back door?", she asked as she showed the girl into the kitchen.

"I walked over and this was how I ... well, how I always used to come in your house." Her voice was quiet and subdued, not at all the cold drama queen that people saw at school. She looked around curiously. "Where is he?"

"Troy?" The name slipped out before she realized.

"No", Sharpay replied firmly. "Brandon, where's Brandon?"

"Well, they're both in the family room playing Wii. For some crazy reason everyone seems to love _my_ WiiFit. I've hardly had a chance to use it myself."

"May I?", the blonde indicated in the direction of the family room.

"Actually, I thought, maybe, we could talk."

"It's almost Brandon's bedtime and I still have homework to do."

"Please?"

The sincere look in the older woman's eyes convinced her to stay. "Sure."

After fixing them both a warm cup of Chai tea, they sat down at the small breakfast table, a table where Sharpay had eaten many a PB&J sandwich when she was younger.

"I just wanted to say that Brandon is a treasure." Sharpay smiled at the praise, as any mother would. "You're doing a wonderful job with him."

"Thank you, but he's just naturally good. I haven't really even seen any of those terrible two's that people talk about all the time."

Lucy leaned forward conspiratorially. "I'll tell you a little secret, Shar, the books are wrong; the terrible two's don't actually start until they're about three. Sorry."

"Oh... well, I'll just figure it out when it happens", she replied with a confidence that came from not having lived through the experience yet.

"I'm more than happy to help, any time, you know." Sharpay had a pensive look on her face. "I-I mean, well, you have your parents, so you probably don't need..."

"Oh no, that's not it. It's just ... Daddy doesn't know ... I mean he thinks ... He wouldn't like it if he knew we were here."

"He must have his reasons, Sharpay. And I don't want you to lie to him about these visits or the meetings at the park."

She smiled bitterly. "It's not a problem. It's not lying if no one ever asks, is it?" Lucy looked puzzled and Sharpay explained, "They're never home. Ryan, Brandon and I see them about once a month, if that. Daddy's busy with a new multi-national business deal and Mother always travels with him."

"I'm not sure I agree with your omission of information as not lying. It may be legally sound, but doesn't work well in a family environment."

"Would you rather never see Brandon again? I-I mean I don't mean that to sound threatening or anything, but that's what would happen."

"I see. Well then, in the words of Bill Clinton, _don't ask ... don't tell_."

Sharpay looked relieved and rose from her seat. "I really need to get Brandon home now."

"I'll have Troy walk you home", Lucy stated with such authority that Sharpay was left with no choice.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"Whoa! Low-flying branch, duck down, dude!", Troy shouted as he awkwardly bent his tall frame to avoid a tree branch and Brandon squealed in delight from atop his shoulders.

"Shhhh! Will you two be quiet? Someone's going to call the police", Sharpay hissed as she tried to keep up which wasn't easy in four-inch heels. "Why did we have to go this way anyhow? You know our parents pay a lot of taxes to maintain all these beautiful sidewalks and roads; we could be walking on them now. That's how I got to your house in the first place."

They were currently taking the short-cut which meant they were cutting through the backyards of their neighbors and would eventually end up at the Evans' house in half the time as walking on the street. At least, that was the theory.

"But that way's not nearly as much fun." Troy stopped and let her catch up.

"Yeah, Mommy, this is fun and I'm taaaall!", crooned Brandon at the top of his lungs.

"Shhhh, she's right. They'll call the coppers on us, bud", Troy advised his small passenger and surprisingly, Brandon quietened down immediately. Troy couldn't help the smirk he shot Sharpay; after all, he was still just a big kid himself.

"So, what's new?" He knew it was a lame way to start a conversation, but he had to start somewhere. She'd barely said two words to him since she came to pick up her son ... their son, he corrected himself.

She really wanted to shoot back with a smartass comment, but bit it back for Brandon's sake.

"Ryan and I are pretty busy rehearsing for the ... callbacks. But that won't be a problem, right? Since you're not coming."

"Uh."

"You promised."

"No, I didn't. I never said anything. I was doing the strong, silent type thing. Look, Sharpay. I'll be honest. I want back in your life; I miss you. I miss being your friend. I, uh, miss being more than your friend." Troy bashfully dipped his head to side.

Sharpay sighed deeply. "We were so stupid." She was good at stating the obvious.

"Yeah... but hey, this little guy really is great." He motioned up with his head towards Brandon and Sharpay surprised him by giggling.

"Stop a minute, Troy. Oh, my sweet baby...", she murmured. Troy's heart clinched, because for about half a second, he thought she was talking to him. "He's fallen asleep."

Brandon's head was slumped awkwardly to the side and if Troy hadn't been holding both of the small boy's hands, he probably would have fallen off. Sharpay reached up and carefully lowered the slumbering toddler down into her arms.

"Here", Troy whispered, "I'll take him." He eased Brandon out of Sharpay's arms and into his own, settling him on one shoulder and holding on securely to his bottom and back. Brandon didn't even blink. Troy nodded to a wooden bench set back in a small grove of trees. "Let's sit down for a minute, so we can talk."

She nodded and they made their way to it and sat down.

"We better not let Mrs. Montoya catch us here. She really will call the _coppers_", Sharpay said as she reached over and rubbed slow little circles on Brandon's back. Latisha Montoya was an angry old woman who hated for people to go anywhere near her yard. And now, Troy and Sharpay were sitting on her custom-made bench which, in the summer, formed the centerpiece of her prize-winning rose garden.

"It's hard to believe how tiny he was when he was born", Troy commented quietly.

"Yeah... less than five pounds. That's why he had to stay... wait a minute. You never saw him when he was born, he wasn't in the room when you and Chad came in."

"Uh, well, you didn't seem like you wanted us around, so when we left, we snuck down to the nursery and looked at him through the glass."

"That was sweet of you", she said softly, but then, instantly stiffened when she continued. "But I was still drugged out of my skull, in horrible pain and in no mood to see my two former best friends who collectively dumped me."

"Sorry."

They were silent for a few more minutes until Troy asked. "You said Brandon was under five pounds. Is that small? I don't really know anything about babies."

"I didn't either at that point, but yeah, since he was so small, he had to stay in the hospital for a few days to make sure he was okay. He was on oxygen for about a week; they sent us home from the hospital with a tiny little tank and this small tube that he absolutely hated to have in his nose."

"Wow, I'm sor... I say that a lot, I know, but I had no idea. So, was he, uh, earlier or something? Is that why he was so small?"

"Yeah, 'bout that. Pretty funny story, actually. His birth was a planned c-section; my doctor recommended it."

"Really?"

"Yeah, since I was only 13 and not that big, even for 13, the doctor said my pelvis wasn't large enough to deliver him naturally. Anyway, what I didn't know was that my mother scheduled the operation for the same day as eighth grade graduation. Seems it was okay for me to be humiliated by having to waddle around school for half the year, but on the day when she'd have to be there, she suddenly wanted to shield me from that scrutiny. I _wanted_ to walk across that stage, damn it. All that crap I had to put up with, the whole school finding out through that gossipy little bitch, Kelsi, and then, getting kicked off... I'm sorry, _asked to leave_, the cheerleading squad, having to wear into an X-large t-shirt in gym class that hung way off my shoulders. I went through all that, without letting them see me cry, and then, I didn't even get to look them in the eye when I got my diploma."

"You didn't miss much. Just a bunch of boring speeches. Still..." He reached up and laid his hand over Sharpay's which was still on Brandon's back. "It wasn't fair."

"No, it wasn't." Her breath caught in her throat as she looked up at him, his eyes lit by the light of the full moon. They stared silently as each other for a moment before Sharpay cleared her throat and pulled her hand away. She rubbed her arms briskly and stood up. "It's getting cold out here and we really should get Brandon to bed."

"Sure", Troy replied as he easily stood with the boy securely in his arms. The 'we' in her statement didn't go unnoticed by him.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Sharpay quietly shut the large front door with a goofy smile on her face. Troy had looked so sweet with Brandon when he put him to bed. Deep in these happy thoughts, she turned around and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw Ryan standing directly behind her with a perturbed look on his face.

Holding her hand to her chest, Sharpay exhaled sharply before exclaiming, "God, Ryan. You almost scared me to death. What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me?", he shot back. "The question should be, 'What's wrong with _you_?'. Look, I didn't say anything when you started meeting him at the park."

"Hey!", she interrupted. "I never met him at the park. Brandon and I always go to the park on Saturdays. It's a free world, Ryan. If Troy Bolton just happened to show up..."

"Sure Sharpay... you just keep on believing that. Did Troy Bolton just happen to show up while you and Brandon were out for a midnight stroll? And did Brandon get so tired on your walk that Troy had to carry him? And did he also have to tuck him in bed and kiss him goodnight?" Ryan had crossed his arms over his chest and he started tapping his foot in annoyance while he awaited her answer.

Sharpay had the grace to look chagrin. "Uh, no. Not exactly. I, sort of, let Brandon go home with Troy today." Then, her face turned dark at a realization and she added, "Wait, were you spying on us?"

Ryan loved his sister, but sometimes she drove him crazy. "Sharpay...", he said with his best 'how could you' voice.

Sharpay padded past him on bare feet, through the intimidating foyer and into their father's austere study. Once inside, she closed the door and turned to Ryan who had obediently followed her.

"Our voices echo too much out there. I don't want to wake up Brandon", she explained. She leaned against a leather-clad wing-backed chair and gave Ryan a defeated look. "Brandon needs a father." There. She'd finally said it out loud. Unfortunately, it was to the wrong person.

"And you think Troy Bolton, the basketball zombie is the right guy for the job?"

"He _is_ his father, Ryan."

"He _is_ his sperm donor, Sharpay. He hasn't lifted a finger to help you in the last three and a half years. Have you forgotten what happened on our first day of high school?"

"That wasn't his fault." Sharpay's voice held more conviction than her memories.

Ryan gave her a skeptical look.

_An excited Ryan Evans ran quickly through the palatial hallways of the Evans mansion. Finally, he burst into Sharpay's room and promptly tripped over a large diaper bag sitting on the floor, slamming his knees down on the hard-wood floor._

"_Damn!", he shouted while clutching uselessly at his throbbing knee._

"_Ryan", Sharpay chastised quietly from her position in the glider rocker by the window. "I've told you before, watch your language around the baby."_

_He stood slowly and glowered at her, his pain changing to anger instantly. "What are you doing? Mom's waiting in the car."_

"_I'm just finishing up." That's when Ryan noticed the baby at her breast and he quickly turned around in embarrassment._

"_Oh, well I thought you were ... you know ... pumping ... that stuff ... or something."_

"_I am." He could hear her shifting behind him, but was still afraid to turn around. "The expressed milk is in the cooler, which is in the diaper bag, which you just tripped over." He heard her stand up now and took a chance at glancing over his shoulder. "Besides, this is his first day at daycare and I wanted to spend as much time with him as possible." She smiled down at the drowsy baby in her arms and gently laid a kiss on his forehead. Then, Sharpay rose gracefully from the rocker and approached Ryan._

"_Here", Sharpay continued, "Burp your nephew." She thrust the three month old into his arms and strolled past him and into her massive closet to retrieve her shoes. "I'll go to the nurse's office right before lunch to pump", Ryan flinched reflexively, "and they'll store it in the frig. I'll pick it up after school and then, that'll go with him tomorrow. Understand?"_

_Brandon answered with a loud belch and Ryan let out an 'Ewww' sound as he pulled the baby back from his shoulder. "He slimed me. Take him back! Now I have to completely change outfits. I have nothing else that coordinates with these pants." He pushed the baby back at his sister and hurried from the room._

"_Now who's going to be late? And it's just school Ryan, why are you so concerned about how you dress?" Sometimes, she just didn't get her brother. She looked down at her own comfortable t-shirt and old jeans and just shrugged. Even though she was a cheerleader, correction, used to be a cheerleader, Sharpay was still very much a tomboy at heart. _

_They made it to school on time, early in fact, and went straight to their lockers which were located next to each other. The locker assignments were given out last week during freshman orientation, so they knew just where to go. And there they stopped, stunned by what they saw. The entire surface of Sharpay's locker was covered in coupons: diaper coupons, formula coupons, diaper rash coupons, baby food coupons, every kind of baby related money saving coupon one could imagine. And they weren't just taped to the locker; they were glued there. Ryan rubbed his hand over the smooth, glossy surface in awe._

"_I think it's varnish or something. Remember when Mom was on her furniture restoration kick a couple of years ago." He stopped talking when he realized Sharpay hadn't said anything._

_She just stood there quietly with tears running down her face._

"_I thought it would be different here, y'know? New kids, new school, but I guess you can't run away from your past."_

"_You're not running away, Sharpay. You're the bravest person I know." He laid a comforting head on her shoulder._

"_Ah, so this is the one", came a raspy voice from behind them._

_The twins turned to see an elderly man wearing dirty coveralls and carrying a toolbox. "Howdy, I'm Mr. Klemper, the school custodian." He tsked as he studied the haphazard collage. "Man, they sure __did a number on this one. That's gonna take some work there. It sure is. I'll have to use __methylene __chloride to remove that varnish, but I can't do that 'til you kids have gone home. That's pretty nasty stuff. I have to wear this big mask; they call it a respirator – OSHA, y'see."_

_Sharpay didn't reply, she just turned and ran away._

_Ryan's eyes grew wide and he knew he had to get away. He had to find Sharpay. _

_And find her he did, curled up in the darkened doorway which led to the auditorium. _

"_Shar..." was all he needed to say._

_She unfolded herself and melted into his brotherly hug, knowing he would make her feel better. Ryan had really been her rock this whole summer. No matter how much he complained about it, she knew he really loved Brandon almost as much as she did. Their parents were more than willing to give her money for the baby, but if she needed their time or emotional support, they always seemed too busy for her._

_They sat there together for a few minutes in silence until they heard the approaching laughter of a group of boys coming toward them. _

"_Damn, did you see that locker, man?", a male voice said. He was giggling wildly._

"_Yeah, that was some serious shit there." That voice was clearly Chad Danforth and you could hear the humor in his voice._

"_So is it true then? She's got a baby?", asked another male voice. "You guys went to the same middle school as her right, right?"_

"_Yeah..." Sharpay's throat almost closed up when she recognized Troy's voice. She looked just as they were passing by, but no one noticed them. "We used to be friends with her." _

"_But that was before she got all skankified", Chad added with a laugh. "Now... well, I wouldn't touch that with ten-foot pole, y'know?"_

"_I wish I knew who skankified her locker, that stunt was the shit", exclaimed a tall, thin African-American whom the Evans had never seen before._

"_Ain't that the truth!", said the other voice, a white guy with unruly dark hair which fell haphazardly over his eyes._

_Their voices slowly faded away as other students entered the hall preparing for the start of the first day of school._

_Ryan didn't want to say anything, too afraid that whatever he said would only make her hurt more. He heard her sigh deeply and reluctantly released his hold on her. Sharpay stood and to his surprise, offered Ryan a hand up. He was the one who was supposed to be helping her._

"_We'd better get to class", Sharpay's voice was peppy, way too peppy and her smile was as fake as her jovial voice. "Don't want to be late on the first day, right?"_

_Ryan mumbled in agreement and they went side by side to homeroom. He didn't catch up with Sharpay again until lunch time. He met her coming out of the nurse's office for her daily visit. They didn't have any classes together until seventh period and he was really worried about her. Unfortunately, seeing her didn't help relieve his anxiety. _

"_I've been looking for you all morning. I-I wanted to make sure you were okay. You know, after this morning and all."_

_She just shrugged her shoulders in answer and they walked silently to the cafeteria. The couple of upper classmen whom Sharpay didn't recognize waved to Ryan and the twins joined them on the upper deck which looked down onto the open lunch room below._

"_Hey, everyone. This is my sister, Sharpay", Ryan announced proudly. "Sharpay, this is the drama club."_

"_Hi, Sharpay. Are you interested in drama? We've got a great department here and the new drama teacher, Ms. Darbus, is, well, very dramatic." An older girl, who introduced herself as Tiffnie, spoke for the group._

"_Well, I don't know if Sharpay would be interested in something like that", Ryan said with the best intentions. "Her plate's pretty full right now."_

"_Oh, but you must, you simply must. There is no place in the world like the theater for finding the inner you."_

"_Or changing it", added a thin young man with spiky red hair._

"_Changing it?" This peaked Sharpay's interest._

"_Of course, I'm Eric, by the way. The stage can be a wonderful partner in the process of self-discovery. Here, you can become anyone you like. There are basically two kinds of people interested in drama: those who want to find the world through creative manipulation of their environment and those who want to hide from that world by becoming someone else."_

"_...becoming someone else", Sharpay whispered._

_The next morning a different person rode to school with Ryan Evans. She certainly wasn't his demure little sister, who always wore jeans and kept her long brown hair tied up in a ponytail because it was easier than wearing it loose. This girl was the epitome of the femme fatale: long honey blonde hair, smokily shadowed eyes and glossy pink lips. Sharpay wore a tight pink mini-skirt and sparkling white blouse with four-inch pink heels in her petite feet. Ryan always thought she hated pink. Then, she insisted that they coordinate their clothes. Well, actually he sort of liked that part; he'd been trying to get them to dress alike for years._

_Fortunately, on the inside, she was still his sister. Thank goodness that hadn't changed._

_Their mother dropped them off at the front of the school and sped off to her golf lesson. Ryan started to walk toward the building and then noticed that Sharpay hadn't moved. He turned to watch her with curiosity and amazement as her face seemed to transform in front of him. Her artfully made-up eyes became cold and calculating. The smile dropped off her face and her mouth drew into a cruel and determined line. Giving her head a little shake to fluff out her hair, Sharpay strutted away from Ryan and toward the entrance._

_When they arrived at their lockers, Mr. Klemper was working on Sharpay's locker. _

"_Ah, there you kids are. I got off all that paper; had to use my beltsander to get it smooth. Then, I put this primer coat on." He indicated to the flat gray color of the locker door. "Bad news is...I'm all out of red paint and I'll have to see what color I do have, but whatever it is, it won't match the rest of this row of lockers."_

_Suddenly, Sharpay snapped; she just couldn't take it any longer. "I. Don't. Care. What. Color. You. Paint. It. Just. Get. It. Done! You can paint the thing pink for all I care!" With that, she walked off, leaving a speechless Ryan and an unfazed Klemper standing alone in the hall. It seemed that Sharpay's change didn't stop at her outward appearance, after all. She was now arrogant, domineering, and melodramatic._

"_Pink...", muttered Klemper. "Y'know I think I might have some pink paint. I painted some stuff for that new drama teacher, Ms. Darbus, last week. She's quite the looker, y'know. I like that flashy type."_

"And I'll say again, Ryan, none of that was Troy's fault." She pushed herself off the chair and walked to the closed door. "I have to finish my French homework. Are you done with yours yet?"

"French homework? What French homework?"

"Y'know Ryan, maybe you'd be better off doing your own work and keeping your nose out of my business."

**TBC**

Hope everyone is still enjoying this one. It's really challenging to write, so please take the time to review and let me know what you're thinking.

Okay, I got this review from cherry-jean where she said "it's weird they don't go to the news" about the birth of a baby to such young parents. She isn't the only one who's said that, so I thought I'd address it here.

I have to disagree with that. For one thing, this happens all the time in the US, just look at the statistics, but you don't see these stories all over the news like this poor Alfie kid in England. Those people are seeking out that publicity. In my story, the Evans money would assure that something like that didn't happen.


	9. Chapter 9

**What We Keep Hidden**

_A High School Musical Fanfiction_

_by GimmeABeat_

**Chapter 9 **

"What spell has this ice princess cast over you that suddenly makes you wanna be in a musical?"

"Look, I just did it. Who cares?", Troy whispered back at him. They were standing in the stacks of the school library and he was trying to speak quietly, but Chad wasn't cooperating.

"Who cares? How about your most loyal best friend?"

The small librarian appeared out of nowhere. "Quiet in here, Mr. Danforth."

"It's him, Miss Falsaff, not me." Chad held up his hand like he was being swore in to give testimony in a courtroom.

Chad twirled up his, ever-present, basketball and spun it on his finger. "Look, you're a hoops dude..." He stopped the spin and push the ball into Troy's chest. "... not a musical singer person."

Troy pushed the ball back at Chad and tried to ignore him by picking a book from the shelf, as if it was one he was interested in.

"Have you ever seen Michael Crawford on a cereal box?", Chad persisted.

"Who's Michael Crawford?"

"Exactly my point." Troy turned the corner of the book stack and started to leaf through the unabridged dictionary, but Chad slammed his ball down on it where the book sat on a large wooden stand. "He was the Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. Now my mom, she's seen that play 27 times, and she put Michael Crawford's picture in our refrigerator." At Troy's stunned look, Chad added, "Yeah, not_ on_ it, _in_ it. So my point is, if you play basketball, you're gonna end up on a cereal box." He held up his basketball for Troy to see. Then, Chad's face became grave. "If you sing in musicals, you'll end up in my mom's refrigerator."

"Why would she put his picture in her refrigerator?" Troy still can't seem to get past that point.

"One of her crazy diet ideas. I don't attempt to understand the female mind, Troy."

Suddenly, the librarian appeared again. She was like a skinny Jack-in-the-Box, popping out of nowhere. She didn't need to say anything this time; her scowl said it all.

"It's foreign territory", Chad mumbled quietly as he followed Troy to a table where the former opened up a library book and his notebook, still attempting to get some work done.

"How can you expect the rest of us to be focused on a game", he pointed an accusing finger at him now. "... if you're off somewhere in leotards singing Twinkle Town?" He added a little flutter on his fingers as a shower of imaginary fairy dust drifted down onto Troy.

"No one said anything about leotards", Troy said defensively.

"Not yet my friend, but just you wait." Chad added more finger jabs for emphasis. Then, he voice became imploring. "Look, we need you, Captain. Big time."

"Mr. Danforth..." There she was again, the spectral librarian who had apparently nominated herself to haunt Chad throughout his high school career.

Always one to take personal responsibility for his actions, Chad quickly explained, "I tried to tell him, Miss Falsaff. Really tried." He stared very seriously at Troy now, hoping he would understand the double meaning.

Troy only had a miserable look on his face. He wasn't so sure anymore that this school musical was such a great idea. Why hadn't Sharpay chosen the school newspaper as her outlet?

_Chad and Troy walked confidently into the nurse's office with their athletic physical forms in their hands. Basketball season didn't start until December, but they wanted to stay in shape, so they were going to try-out for the track team next week. It wasn't their best sport, but being natural athletes, both expected to easily make the junior varsity team._

"_Hi, we're looking for Miss Harper", Troy asked a student in the small office. _

_The blonde girl was bent over the open refrigerator, placing something inside and Chad made a crude teenage boy gesture at her back to indicate that he found her to be particularly attractive. At least, he found her rear-end to be attractive._

_Sharpay slammed the door and whirled around at the sound of Troy's voice. She had just finished using the hospital-grade electric breast pump and was placing the bottle of expressed milk in the refrigerator when Troy's cocksure voice startled her so that she almost dropped her precious liquid._

_No wonder Troy hadn't recognized her. This was a completely new Sharpay. Most notable was the color of her hair. It was now a honey blonde and she was wearing make-up and Sharpay never wore make-up. She had this natural beauty that didn't need artificial enhancement. And no wonder Chad had been checking her out. She was wearing this short little pink mini-skirt and he knew, for a fact, that Sharpay hated dresses and skirts. And then, her legs... they seemed to go on forever the way they were showcased in those pink stilettos. _

_Despite having been so recently startled, Sharpay stood ramrod straight and stared directly at Troy. Her face wore a mask of apathy and detachment. And even though her eyes were cold, they burned with contempt. This was no one Troy recognized._

"_Sharpay, hey." His voice was stilted and awkward as his heart thrummed loudly against his ribcage. _

_She replied coldly, "Bolton." Her voice was cold and unfeeling as her heart thrummed loudly against her ribcage. _

"_H-how you doin'?"_

"_I'm fine." Without another word she shouldered her way past him and left the nurse's office._

_Chad appeared quietly at his shoulder. "Hey man, you should stay away from her. I don't think she's the same girl we knew last year. I heard she was hanging out with those drama geeks."_

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Chad and three of his basketball teammates passed through the halls with determined looks on their faces.

Sharpay and Ryan noticed and Sharpay said, with suspicion in her voice, "Something isn't right."

Chad, meanwhile marched into the science lab and straight up to Taylor McKessie, who was just removing a pair of protective goggles from her face.

Chad placed his basketball down on the lab table and said to her, "Hey, look. We need to talk."

Not one to mince words, she replied quickly, "Go."

Ryan and Sharpay stood at the door watching them, but were too far away to hear their conversation.

"They must be trying to figure out a way to make sure Troy and Gabriella actually beat us out", speculated Ryan. Sharpay had a disbelieving look on her face. "The jocks rule most of the school, but if they get Troy into a musical, then they've conquer the entire student body."

"That doesn't make any sense, Ryan. Why would they want Troy in a musical a week before playoffs?"

"What playoffs?" Ryan looked baffled.

"Oh, Ryan..." Sighing deeply, she walked away from him.

Ryan stood alone, watching the meeting and thinking _ And if those science geeks get Gabriella hooked up with Troy Bolton, the scholastic club goes from drool to cool. I need to save our show from people who don't know the difference between a Tony Award and Tony Hawk._" With determination on his face, he turned and left.

After Chad explained his plan, Taylor asked, "Do you really think that's gonna work?"

"It's the only way to save Troy and Gabriella from themselves."

Taylor nodded in agreement.

"So are we on?"

"Yeah", she agreed.

"Good, so we start tomorrow then."

"Okay, the first thing."

The plan was set.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"Brandon, baby... Please settle down", Sharpay pleaded to her hyper son.

"No! No! No!", he shouted at the top of his lungs while jumping up and down on his bed.

Ryan popped into the room with a perturbed look on his face. "Sharpay, I'm trying to _bop to the top_ over here. Could you two keep it down?"

Sharpay closed eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. She could feel a headache starting and her mother always swore you could stave one off by applying the right amount of pressure there --- sort of like, do-it-yourself acupuncture. It didn't seem to be working.

"No! No! No!..." Brandon continued his chant like a mantra in the background.

"He won't go to sleep, Ryan." Her voice was tense and barely controlled. This must be what Mrs. Bolton was talking about when she said the terrible two's start later than advertised.

"Let me handle this." Confidently, Ryan strode into the room. "What seems to be the problem, Bran?"

"No sleep! I want Troy! I want to plaaaaay!" He twirled around on the bed and fell backwards into Ryan's arms, like he was a one-man mini-mosh pit.

Ryan sat him back down on the ground and walked back to Sharpay. "Problem solved", he said as if he'd actually accomplished something. "He wants Troy."

Sharpay, in the meantime, had sank down to the floor and was hugging her arms around her knees. She looked up at her brother with fire in her eyes. "I already knew that, Ryan! He's been shouting it since he got out of the tub!"

Ryan, still exuding a calm demeanor, replied, "So just call him, Sharpay. You're the one who wants to get back together with him; here's another chance."

"Troy! Troy! Troy!..." Brandon droned on.

She jumped up from the floor and grabbed Ryan's collar. "I never said that." She released him just as quickly and paced away a step, trying to clear her head, which was virtually impossible with a screaming toddler in the room. She tried running her hand through her hair, the way she'd seen Troy do when he was trying to think. Instead of a calming effect, however, the opposite happened. Her hair became tangled on the many rings she wore and she ended up pulling some strands out by the roots. "Ugh! Maybe, you're right. Maybe, I should call him." Turning around, Sharpay saw that her wimp of a brother had disappeared.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"Thanks for coming over", Sharpay said as she closed the large door and led Troy up the ornate, winding staircase.

"No prob." Troy had been practicing being casual around her, but it was extremely difficult, especially when she smelled so nice. He inhaled deeply when she brushed past him to close the door. It was a strange combination of a flowering perfume, sort of like strawberries, and a fresh clean smell, like soap, but different. He must have sniffed too loudly, because she turned to look at him when they reached the second floor.

"It's Johnson's Baby Shampoo, if you're wondering. I washed Brandon's hair about an hour ago."

The blush rose on his cheeks. "Oh... um, sorry." Well, there goes casual. Guess he should settle for awkwardly stupid. He seemed pretty good at that one.

They were standing outside Brandon's closed door now and Sharpay stopped with her hand on the knob. "He keeps saying he wants to play, but it's almost two hours past his normal bedtime and I think he's just frazzled."

"And he's asking for me?" Troy's blue eyes lit up in delight.

"Yeah, but that's probably because he associates you with playing and not sleeping, which is what he's supposed to be doing now." She looked up at him seriously. "Before we go in, you have to understand... It's time for him to go to sleep, not play. And I have an English assignment due tomorrow, so I'm not helping you. You ask to be in his life, so welcome to it."

With that, she flung open the door, pushed him in and disappeared.

"Oh, boy."

Brandon's eyes lit up in delight when he saw Troy standing in the doorway.

"Troy!!!" The little boy bounced from the bed to the floor and then, made an impressive leap back up in the air and into Troy's waiting, if slightly stunned, arms.

"Whoa, big guy. What are you doing still awake?" He carried the boy back to his twin bed and stood him on the mattress.

"I was waiting for you, so we can play. I like to play with you. You're fun."

Troy sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. Brandon jumped up in the air and landed with a squeal of delight on his bottom, right next to Troy.

"Brandon, you really need to listen to your mom, ya know?"

Troy looked down at Brandon and had to stifle a laugh. The toddler sat slumped in a defeated posture with his bottom lip stuck out in a pout. Never had he reminded Troy so much of Sharpay.

"Mommy's no fun. I like you better."

Oh, crap. What do you do now, Bolton?

"Don't say that, buddy. Your mom's the greatest. She's way better than me."

"Nuh-uh. She makes me sleep and brush my teeth and eat green stuff. That's not fun."

They needed to be comfortable for this talk, so Troy scooted Brandon up to his pillow and settled in beside him. He sat propped up on half of Brandon's pillow with his arms over his chest and his legs casually crossed at the ankle. Looking over at the little boy he had to chuckle when he realized that Brandon was mimicking his pose, right down to the crossed feet, except Brandon's feet were enclosed in attached slippers which were part of his footie pajamas. Troy knew he had to get serious about what he was going to say.

"I know... I'm a lot older than you are, but my mom still makes me do all that stuff too."

"Nooo... Meme does that?" His little blue eyes were bright with disbelief.

"Yeah, and I don't always want to listen to her, but I know she does those things because she loves me."

"Wow..."

"And my dad... man... he makes me run suicides every day." Troy reached down and rubbed his aching calves in an exaggerated fashion.

"Wow..." Suicides were the colloquialism for the sprinting, shuttle races that the basketball team was required to perform as part of their overall conditioning exercises. Brandon, of course, had no idea what _suicides_ were, but thought they must be really bad --- much worse than brushing your teeth. Then, he got a quizzical look in his bright blue eyes and turned, questioningly, to Troy. "Troy? Mommy has a daddy; he's Granddad. You have a daddy; he's Coach." Troy chuckled at Brandon's use of Coach as his dad's name. He'd picked up on that when they first met and refused to call Jack anything else. The smile immediately dropped from Troy's face at Brandon's next words, "Why don't I have a daddy?"

Troy would love to swallow the large lump that just formed in his throat, but he couldn't. He could barely breath. The only thing he seemed capable of doing right now was staring, staring straight at Brandon who looked at him with unwavering trust and innocence.

"Umm, Brandon... Gee, buddy, you sure know how to ask the hard questions." The boy just kept looking up at him with absolute faith. This wasn't helping. Troy took a deep breath ... and exhaled. He did it again. Then, he realized Brandon was copying him again and he stopped.

"Okay, it's like this, Brandon. You do have a dad." Oh, crap. Would Sharpay kill him for this? However, the light that just flipped on in Brandon's eyes gave the confidence to continue. "You see ... I'm your dad." There, he said it.

"Really?" Even if he hadn't been looking at him, Troy could have heard the delight in his voice. "You?"

"Yeah, me." For some reason he felt like he needed to explain more. "You see... your mom and I..."

"Daddy! Can I call you Daddy? Cuz that's what Mommy calls Granddad." He nodded vigorously as he spoke. "Daddy, yeah. I want to call you Daddy."

Wow... Blown away didn't come anywhere close to describing how he felt right now. He reached over and hugged Brandon tightly to him.

"Sure, Brandon. You can call me Daddy. I think I'd like that."

"Daddy..." He said it like he was practicing his lines from a play. Troy had to smile --- more of Sharpay emerging. "Hey, Brandon. Getting back to what we were talking about before... How 'bout we make a deal... you promise to listen to your mom and I'll promise to listen to mine? That sound good?"

"I s'pose... Do I have to listen to you too? Since you're my daddy?"

"Well, I'm kinda new at this. I think we should probably both listen to your mom for awhile."

"But can you still come over here at nite-nite time?"

"Sure, if it's okay with your mom."

Brandon hopped up and before Troy realized what had happened he was at the door.

"Brandon! Wait, buddy. Where're you goin'?"

"To ask Mommy if you can come over every nite-nite time."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Troy hurried over and scooped up Brandon before he could escape. "Let's ask her tomorrow. She's working on her homework."

Reluctantly, Brandon agreed and wiggled his way out of Troy's arms and ran over to his bookcase. "Read to me", he demanded. He led Troy back to his bed and handed him a worn copy of Milk and Cookies by Frank Asch.

"Oh wow, I used to love this book."

"Read", Brandon said again, more insistently. There really was a good bit of Sharpay in him after all. "Please, Daddy?" Damn, he didn't know if his heart could take this or not. Right now, it was filled to bursting.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Sharpay closed her laptop with satisfaction. She was pleased with her poem, even if it revealed more of herself than was. However, that was the assignment. Ms. Darbus wanted them to "explore their inner selves and proclaim that exploration to the world".

Looking up at her wall clock, she was shocked to see it was after midnight. A little perturbed, she left her room and went to check on Brandon. She would have thought that Troy would have come to say goodbye before he left. She automatically started picking up toys from the floor when she entered her son's room and so was shocked to a standstill when upon straightening up, she saw Troy Bolton stretched out alongside Brandon on his small twin bed. Troy was sound asleep and Brandon was curled into his side, using his father as a pillow.

Without saying a word Sharpay pulled the comforter up over the pair and nearly screamed when Troy's eyes snapped open.

"Help, I'm stuck", he whispered. At her questioning look, he explained further. "He fell asleep on me and now, I'm afraid if I move, he'll wake up. What do I do?"

Sharpay picked up the large Scooby-Doo stuffed animal from the floor and held it to her mouth to stifle her giggling. It wasn't helping though.

"Oh, that's very helpful", Troy whispered sarcastically.

She held up a finger to indicate that he should wait a minute, as she wasn't able to say anything right now without completely losing it.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, she regained control of herself.

"I'm sorry", she whisper-giggled, "but this is really funny. You know, I _could_ just leave you here, right?"

His brow crinkled with worry. "You wouldn't really do that, would you?"

"No... I wouldn't, but that's not to say I can't enjoy this." Then, obviously taking pity on him, she finally relented. "Okay, you hold Scooby and I'll lift Brandon's arm, then you slide out..."

"And Scoob takes my place." He was smiling now. "That's brilliant."

"Of course, it is."

Her plan worked and after Troy was freed, Sharpay quietly slid the guardrail under the mattress and leaned over to kiss her son goodnight.

Troy paused before following her to the door. "Could I...", he asked, trying not to sound needy.

At her nod, Troy gave Brandon a kiss on his forehead and followed Sharpay downstairs where they could talk.

"Thanks", he said shyly as they stood by the entry door. He sounded like a nervous teenager bringing his date home and hoping for a goodnight kiss.

"Thank _you_", she said sincerely. "You saved the day, or at least, my night."

"Ummm, he's probably going to ask about me again tomorrow. I, sort of, promised I'd start coming over to help."

"Oh, Troy..." His heart dropped at the disappointed sound in her voice.

"Look, if you have a problem..."

"It's not me, you idiot. It's my parents. They're not here that often, but when they are..."

He reached out and boldly took her hands in his. "Then, we'll face that together." Then, he surprised himself, as much as her, when he leaned over and gently kissed her on the lips.

Then Sharpay surprised herself, as much as him, when she kissed him back.

Sharpay was about to shut the door behind him when the sound of his voice wafted through the cold night air. The grin she had been sporting wrinkled into a scowl when she realized what she was hearing.

"_**We're soarin', flyin' there's not a star in heaven that we can't reach..."**_

How could he? After everything he'd done and said. She thought he'd changed; she thought she could trust him, but there he was, singing that song of Kelsi's, the one Darbus gave Gabriela and him for the callbacks. Even though he was just with her, Troy was obviously thinking about that little know-it-all. She slammed the door shut with a loud bang and turned around to find Ryan watching her knowingly.

"I told you, you couldn't trust him, Shar."

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

The school day was just beginning with students arriving for another day of learning. Chad, still holding his favorite basketball, crouched near a stone pillar and motioned for Taylor McKessie to join him. She carried a laptop computer under one arm and a backpack under the other.

"So, my watch says 7:45 Mountain Standard Time. We synced?" He held up his arm, which showed three wristwatches on it.

"Whatever", Taylor said dismissively.

"Then we're on go mode for immediately after school, 3:10."

"Yes, Chad. We're a go, but we're not Charlie's Angels, okay?" Her voice was curt and contemptuous. Even though the two were working together, she obviously didn't think much of her partner. She slammed the laptop into his hands and started to walk away.

"I can dream, can't I?"

After the requisite eye-roll, Taylor left and Chad glanced quickly right, and then, left nervously before skulking away.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

The bell rang at 3:10 signaling the end of the instructional day and the start of their mysterious operation.

Troy walked through the locker room, but saw no one. The entire place appeared to be empty until he turned the corner and saw four of his closest teammates sitting around their normal section of lockers. There was Chad, Zeke, Jason and Raymond, his closest friends on the team. In the center of the room, there stood a table laden with basketball trophies.

Chad stood in the middle, holding a framed photograph of a basketball player in a vintage uniform.

Without hesitating, Chad launched into, what was obviously, a well-rehearsed spiel. "'Spider' Bill Netrine, class of '72. He was MVP in the league championship game."

Zeke stepped up, holding another photograph. "Sam Nedler, class of '02. Also known as 'Sammy Slamma Jamma'." The other guys chuckled at Zeke's street-wise rendition of the nickname. "Captain, MVP of the league championship game."

Next was Jason's turn. "The Thunder Clap..." Everyone in the background clapped once in unison, like a poorly choreographed step show. "Hap Hadden, '95. Led the Wildcats to back-to-back city championships. A legend."

"Yeah", continued Chad with the ferocity of a tent-revival preacher. "Legends, one and all. But do you think any of these Wildcat legends became legends by getting involved in musical _auditions_ just days before the league championships?

And like the chorus in a Greek tragedy, the others shouted, "Get your head in the game!"

"No", Chad answered his own question. "These Wildcat legends became legends because they never took their eye off the prize."

Again, "Get your head in the game!", and more loudly.

"Now! Who is the first sophomore ever to make starting varsity?"

"Troy!", bellowed the chorus.

"So who voted him our team captain this year?"

"Us!"

"And who is gonna get their sorry butts kicked in Friday's playoff game if Troy's worried about an audition?"

"We are", they responded solemnly.

"Guys, come on. I mean there's 12 people on this team, not just me."

"Just 12?", asked Chad. "Oh, no... I think you're forgetting about one very important 13th member of our squad." He handed Troy one final framed photograph.

It was the picture of another basketball player wearing a East High uniform. Troy, of course, recognized him immediately. "My dad?"

"Yes, Troy. Wildcat basketball champion, class of 1981. Champion, _father_, and now coach. It's a winning tradition like no other", Chad finished solemnly.

Meanwhile, in the science classroom, Taylor and the Scholastic Decathlon Team are similarly encircling Gabriella. However, instead of low-tech framed pictures and nostalgic trophies, Taylor showed Gabriella a Powerpoint slide show on her computer.

"From lowly Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon, to earlier warriors, medieval knights... All, leading up to..." At a signal to the tall decathlon team member standing nearby, he unrolled a poster-sized fiddled photograph of a cartoon-like basketball player with Troy Bolton's over-sized head on top of the body. "... lunkhead basketball man."

Gabriella sat silently with a bemused smile on her face, waiting to see what would happen next.

"Yes, our culture worshiped the aggressor throughout the ages and we end up with spoiled, overpaid, bonehead athletes who contribute little to civilization other than slam dunks and touchdowns. That is the inevitable world of Troy Bolton." Then Taylor looked at Gabriella and said with true conviction in her voice, "But the path of the mind, the path we're on, ours is the path that has brought us these people: Eleanor Roosevelt, Frida Kahlo, Sandra Day O'Connor, Madame Curie, Jane Goodall, Oprah Winfrey and so many others whom the world reveres."

Gabriella looked confused. "Uh, but what does ... Y'know, I've got Kelsi waiting for me to rehearse." She started to rise.

"Gabriella!" The forcefulness of her voice caused the Hispanic young woman to sit back down. "Troy Bolton represents one side of evolution. And our side, the side of education and accomplishment is the future of civilization." She held an old-fashioned wooden pointer in her hands now and whipped it through the air so fiercely that the sound of the thrashing wood pierced the air of the classroom. "This...", Taylor indicated the classroom and the other gifted students, "is the side where you belong."

Gabriella's face was solemn as she thought about what her new friend was saying.

Back in locker room, Troy was livid, but trying his best to contain his anger.

"Guys... if you don't know that I'll put 110% of my guts into that game, then you don't know me."

"But we just thought...", Chad stumbled on his words.

"I'll tell you what I thought... I thought that you're my friends. Win together, lose together, teammates."

"But suddenly, the girl... and the singing."

Troy didn't seem to notice Chad's uncharacteristically fiddling with a laptop computer which positioned open, with the screen pointed toward Troy.

"Man, I'm for the team!", he insisted. "I've always been for the team. _She's just someone I met. Alright the singing thing is nothing. Probably just a way to keep my nerves down, I don't know. It means nothing to me. You're my guys and this is our team. Gabriella is not important. I'll forget about her, forget about the audition and we'll go out and get that championship. Everyone happy __now."_

"Behold ... lunkhead basketball man", Taylor earnestly as Gabriella sat in front of a computer watching Troy's broadcast from the locker room.

The others quietly leave the room, leaving only Taylor and Gabriella.

"So, Gabriella, we'd love to have you for the Scholastic Decathlon", Taylor implored with way too much enthusiasm in her voice. Seemingly oblivious to Gabriella's tears, she continued, "You need a ride home?" Gabriella shook her head slightly. "Taking the activity bus?" The school provided late buses to take students home after clubs and team practices. She nodded solemnly.

**TBC**

Anybody besides me feeling sorry for poor old Gabriella. Oh, snap! I forgot, I'm not supposed to like her. Dang it!

Definition of suicides: For folks not in the US, suicides are running drills where the player runs between lines on the gym floor, gradually increasing the distance to increase the pain.

If you're really into the movie, you'll notice that I'm dinking around with the timeline. I've moved the laptop camera spy incident to after school instead of lunchtime. It works with what happens in the next chapter.

Lots of people keep asking me if Brandon knows that Troy is his father. Well... now you know and so does he. I should have put a diabetic warning at the beginning of this chapter. It's syrupy sweet.


	10. It's Not Just About the Singing

**What We Keep Hidden**

_A High School Musical Fanfiction_

_by GimmeABeat_

**Chapter 10: It's Not Just About the Singing**

Gabriella heard shouting and singing from the science lab window and looked out to see an impromptu pep rally taking place around the fountain in the front courtyard. Troy seemed to be at the center of all the activity. The crowd degenerated to mindless chanting of Troy's name as they hoisted him up on their shoulders. Gabriella dejectedly turned away from the spectacle.

Suddenly, she thought that if singing was the root cause of this debacle, then maybe, singing could make her feel better. She lapsed into a sad rendition of a heart-wrenching ballad which lamented about her lost relationship with Troy. Although she had to admit to herself that she wasn't sure there actually ever was a relationship. At the end she found herself standing in front of a larger-than-life poster of the East High basketball team showcasing their star player, Troy Bolton.

Gabriella stood there, defeated, until she heard a small voice say, "Why are you so sad?"

Looking down, she couldn't help but smile at the pint-sized Troy replica.

"Hi, Brandon. It's complicated. Are you looking for your brother?"

"Brother? I don't have a brother. I have a Mommy and a Uncle and a Grandmother and a Granddad and a Meme and a Coach ... and now ... I have a Daddy."

"Oh." She wasn't following this conversation very well, but the little boy seemed really excited about his daddy, so she couldn't help it when the corners of her mouth quirked up.

Then Brandon's eyes brightened as he took in the large poster on the wall behind them. "That's him!", Brandon proclaimed proudly. "That's my daddy and you know what else?" Gabriella was too stunned to respond. "When I go to his house, I get to play in his room. And then, he comes to my house and reads to me at nite-nite time."

Oh, Gabriella Montez, you are such an idiot, her internal voice chastised her. Brandon is Troy's son. Why didn't Troy just say that when she met Brandon? Why all the secrecy? Then, her 'freaky math girl' genes kicked in and she realized that Troy must have been in middle school when Brandon was born. Why did that seem so familiar?

"Brandon!" Ryan came around the corner with a frightened look on his face. "There you are. You're supposed to be in the auditorium. We're about to start painting." He dropped his voice to a stage whisper and the reason for his fear became evident. "And your mom is going to kill me for losing you again."

"Oooo, painting! I love to paint."

Noticing Gabriella for the first time, Ryan said, "Oh hi, Gabriella. Are you helping paint sets today?"

"Ummm, I-I don't think I can make it today." She had a lot of thinking to do.

After saying goodbye to the dark-haired young woman, Ryan took Brandon's hand and led him down the stairway. Their voices echoed in the deserted halls and Gabriella couldn't help but overhear their conversation.

"... then I heard singing, so I followed the sound and found her. She was singing a sad song. I hope she feels better. I think she has a cold."

"Gabriella has a cold?"

"Yeah, when she sang, she sounded like you did when your nose was all stopped up."

"Ohhhh. Maybe you shouldn't tell anybody else about that. Okay, Bran?"

"Okay, Uncle Ryan."

_Uncle_ Ryan ... that meant ... that meant she was even more of an idiot than she thought she was.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"Alright, people! Callbacks are on Thursday. We need to get these sets finished so we'll be ready for rehearsals." Darbus bellowed to the drama club and they all started scurrying around like frightened mice.

Darbus moved to the first row of seats and sank gratefully into one of the cushioned chairs. She pulled out her reading glasses and picked up a set design drawing to began studying it. A small figure caught her attention and she pulled the paper away from her face to look into the shining eyes of Brandon Evans. An automatic smile came to Darbus' face. The little boy had captured her heart from the first moment she met him. As was his custom, Brandon climbed up onto her lap and gave her a hug and a sloppy kiss.

"Mizzz Darbus! Mizzz Darbus! Did you hear? I got a daddy!" He was nearly bursting with the news.

"Really?"

This explained the poem that Sharpay turned in this morning. It was a heart-wrenching piece of self-discovery and twisted something within her heart to read it. As far as she knew, Brandon's father had never been in the picture and now, apparently, he'd come back. She loved Ryan and Sharpay Evans like they were her own children. And if anyone hurt either of them or Brandon, they'd have Alison Darbus to reckon with.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Troy sprang happily onto the front porch of the Evans' mansion and hit the bell. He heard the chimes reverberate through the foyer and couldn't wait until the door opened. He had a very special book in his hand and couldn't wait to share it with Brandon. Troy asked his mom which book he liked best when he was Brandon's age and Lucy hadn't hesitated in the least when she responded with the title. In fact she still had it packed away in the attic.

The door opened and Troy was ready with a huge smile on his face. She was dressed casually in yoga pants and a loose tank top and she had her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. At first glance, she reminded Troy of the old Sharpay, before ... everything. That was until he saw the look on Sharpay's face. She was clearly unhappy with him and Troy had no idea why.

"Um ... hi. I tried to talk to you at school today, but kept missing you."

"Yeah, well, maybe I wasn't interested in talking to you." She headed across the expansive foyer and started up the stairs without looking back. "Brandon's waiting; you don't want to disappoint him, right?"

"Uh, right." Troy hurried to catch up with her. He decided to try a different tactic. "Actually, I'm pretty excited about tonight's book. I brought one from home. It was my favorite from when I was a kid." He held out his worn copy of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and handed it to her.

They had reached the second floor by now and she stopped to look at the title. "We already have that book, first edition, a signed copy", she scoffed and then, shoved the book back at him. "I doubt there isn't a decent children's book in publication that we don't own. After all, my great grandfather started the Albuquerque Public Library, Troy."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that."

"I'll be in the music room ... rehearsing for callbacks." She started to walk away and called back over her shoulder. "You can let yourself out when you're done." Then, just before she descended the stairs Sharpay looked back at him and her expression soften. "T-tell Brandon, I'll come kiss him good night after you leave."

Troy stood there stunned for a few seconds before he heard Brandon's voice calling to him. He plastered on a fake smile and tried to be cheerful as he walked into his son's room.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"_...wipe away your inhibitions..._"

Troy heard Ryan's voice as he crept down the hall with Brandon hanging onto his belt loop.

"_Stomp, stomp, stomp to the romp_", both of the twins voices sang out in perfect harmony as Troy and Brandon quietly peeked around the open doorway.

"_And strut your stuff._" Sharpay thrust out her chest and struck a pose as she 'strutted' across the floor. Troy's eyes went wide.

"Mommy's pretty", Brandon whispered.

"Yeah..."

"_Bop, bop, bop straight to the top. Going for the glory._" Ryan and Sharpay danced toward a ladder set up in the middle of room, each of them going to opposite sides. They started to climb the ladder as they reached the finale. "_We'll keep stepping up and we just won't stop, stop, stop 'til we reach the top. __Bop to the top!_"

The music stopped and Ryan looked at Sharpay expectantly. They were both breathing heavily and Ryan's exhilaration fell when he saw her face.

"What is it?"

"You're higher than me." Sharpay was in classic drama queen mode, something that she didn't normally do at home.

"Yeah, so?"

"So... your head shouldn't be higher than me, ever. Step down two steps, Ryan."

"Wh.."

"Just do it!"

Meekly, Ryan stepped down two steps.

"That's better. Make sure you end there during the callbacks."

Ryan shook his head in frustration, but knew he couldn't argue with her. "Sure, Shar."

Satisfied, she smiled at him. They climbed down the ladder and Ryan picked up a towel and wrapped it around his neck. Sharpay walked immediately to the stereo and reset the song.

"Good. Now I want to take it from the second stanza..."

"Sharpay...", Ryan whined. "I'm tired _and_ I have a boatload of homework."

"We need the practice, Ryan. We can't lose this part. You think _they_ aren't practicing?"

"Well, they aren't practicing right now because Troy Bolton is sitting right over there watching us!"

Troy and Brandon slunk into the room. Sharpay's watchful stare did nothing to alleviate Troy's anxiety. Brandon, who was completely oblivious to the unsettled emotion between his parents, ran across the room and jumped into the his mother's arm.

"You were great, Mommy!"

She tried to hide her smile, but it crept onto her lips anyway. "Thanks, baby, but why are you still awake?" She was addressing Brandon, but turned her eyes to Troy for the answer. And it better be a good one, she didn't look happy.

"Uh... Brandon wanted to come say goodnight." He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck and pulled his eyes away from her burning gaze to stare at the floor.

"Yeah, I wanted to be tuck-ed in by Mommy and Daddy."

"Daddy?" Ryan, who had been trying to sneak out, asked with renewed interest.

"Yep, did you know Troy was my daddy, Ryan?" Brandon's joy bubbled throughout the room.

Ryan wasn't looking at Brandon, though. He was staring at his sister and waiting for an explanation.

"Don't look at _me_", she replied tersely.

Troy shrugged casually and added, "He wanted to know why he didn't have one?"

"And did you tell him?", Ryan demanded. "Did you tell him _everything_?"

Sharpay stepped in between them. "Don't you have homework, Ryan?"

"Whose side are you on, Sharpay? You want to win these callbacks, but you're defending him."

"I'm not defending him." Then, she chanced a glance down at Brandon who was watching her curiously, obviously not understanding this exchange. "I-I ... just go, Ryan. We'll talk about this later."

After Ryan left, Brandon quickly convinced his mommy and daddy to tuck him in together. Sharpay was pleasant and cheerful, but Troy could tell it was all an act for Brandon. Surprisingly, the toddler settled down quickly and the two teenagers slipped from the room after many hugs and kisses.

"Listen, Shar... I don't understand..."

"You need to go now, Troy", she said firmly as she held the door open for him. "I-I'm tired and I'm not up to talking ... just go ... oh, and you'd better be ready for those callbacks because Ryan and I are going to kick you and your little brainiac straight into obscurity."

She slammed the door as soon as he crossed the threshold.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"Uh, Ms. Darbus?", Jason uncertainly raised his hand. "What poetry assignment?"

Ms. Darbus had just finished a long exposition on the class poems which had been due yesterday and she didn't intend on expounding on them further. "Ask one of your _sports buddies_ after class, Mr. Cross. Now, as I was saying, I've extended this project's due date through tomorrow. And those of you who haven't availed yourselves of punctuality", she paused to glare at Jason, "... may view two excellent examples from your fellow classmates which I have posted anonymously in the hallway."

Just as she finished her last word, the bell rang and students started to gather up their things, preparing to leave. Sharpay whizzed by Troy, ignoring his pleading eyes, and he quickly followed her out.

Darbus pulled her glasses off and studied the two teens as they rushed from her room. She had a bad feeling about this.

"Oh my God, I can't believe it! That's my poem!", squealed Kelsi who instantly became shy and withdrawn when everyone gathered around her in the hallway to read her poem.

**Everyday**

**Once in a lifetime  
means there's no second chance  
so I believe that you and me  
should grab it while we can**

Make it last forever  
and never give it back  
It's our turn, 

**and I'm loving' where we're at  
**

**Because this moment's really all we have  
Everyday of our lives,  
wanna find you there, wanna hold on tight  
**

**Gonna run  
While we're young and keep the faith  
Everyday from right now,  
gonna use our voices and scream out loud**

Take my hand;  
**together we will celebrate.**

"That's awesome, Kelsi", said one.

"Yeah, it almost sounds like a song", said another.

Kelsi shyly tipped her head to the side. "I was actually planning on putting it to music. I even have a couple in mind to sing it." She glanced at Gabriella who was standing nearby, but the dark-haired girl didn't hear her. She was staring silently at the other posted poem.

Taylor walked over to her friend, who was even quieter than her norm since the Neanderthal presentation yesterday.

"Hey, did you read Kelsi's poem? Isn't it amazing?", asked Taylor.

Gabriella shook her head no and pointed to the other poem. "Listen to this." Her voice was a little shaky, but it seemed oddly appropriate for this particular piece of poetry.

**Chance and Trust**

**After 9 months alone in a world that didn't try to understand, **

**Baby is born. **

**Girl is overwhelmed with love and happiness.**

Boy wants nothing to do with baby.

Baby's first word is "dada".

Girl cries.  


**Boy comes back, says he wants to help.**

**Girl doesn't know if there's enough trust.**

**But the child's eyes are filled with delight.**

**Girl takes a chance.**

"Wow", exhaled a male voice from behind Gabriella's right shoulder. She turned to see Chad staring at the poem with Zeke and Jason at his side.

"Wow, indeed", stated Taylor.

Gabriella expected much more from these two and said in a perturbed voice, "You two are unbelievable. You know that?"

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Troy finally caught up with Sharpay when she reached her locker.

"Hey, how you doin'? I missed you last night."

Sharpay ignored him and started to remove books from her locker.

"I wanna talk to you about something", he said nervously.

Sharpay turned from the locker and looked at him with steely eyes. She didn't wait for him to explain what he wanted, she was tired of waiting for him. "And here it is: I know you think you need to do this musical. I don't get it, but I understand that it's going to happen. You've got Gabriella, Troy. It's okay, so we're good."

"Good about what? I wanna talk about final callbacks." He'd finally decided that it wasn't worth losing her, even if his motivation had originally been to find a place in her life through the musical.

"Me, too. Forget what I said before, I want you to do callbacks." He gave her a surprised look. "But who are we trying to kid? You'll lose and you deserve to go down in a blaze of glory." She reached into her locker and withdrew a final book.

"But, I..."

"Don't worry. I still won't keep Brandon from you ... no matter what you do to me." She closed her locker and walked away.

Troy looked confused and whirled around to call after her. "Sharpay?"

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

The team was shooting warm-ups on the outdoor court and Chad ran over to Troy, enthusiastically, as the sandy-haired young man walked up. "Hey, Captain!"

Chad tried to hand him his ball, but Troy just waved him off and ran off the court, obviously in distress.

Zeke, Jason and Raymond ran up to Chad in concern. "What's with Troy?", Zeke asked.

"Don't worry about it", Chad assured them, though he looked worried himself.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Troy, once again, stood on the Evans' porch, but this time, he's not bouncing on his feet. In fact he had to drag those feet to get this far.

The door opened in response to his ring and he was shocked to see Darby Evans holding the door with a ready-made scowl on her attractive face.

"Hi, Mrs. Evans. I'm Troy Bolton."

"I know who are, Troy. It hasn't been that long", she replied in a flat voice.

"I made a mistake, Mrs. Evans, and I would really like to let Sharpay know that. Could you tell her that a came by to see her?"

"We're all aware of the mistake you made, Troy. Are you aware of the one you made by coming here tonight?" Her threat wasn't veiled at all.

"Ma'am, please..."

"Goodnight, Troy."

She slammed the door, similarly to how Sharpay had the night before.

Sighing deeply, Troy walked around to the back of the house and pulled out his cell phone.

In her room, Sharpay picked up her phone and looked at the caller identification when it began ringing. She hit the button to ignore the call and placed it back on her desk. Just then, Brandon appeared at the door wearing his new Power Ranger Jungle Fury pajamas.

"I brush-ed my teeth", he announced as he did a cheezy grin to show Sharpay his dazzling teeth.

"Very good, baby." She took his hand and led him out of the room, saying, "Troy can't come over tonight, Brandon, so I'll read to you."

Troy could hear Brandon's protests as they walked away, but no one saw him standing on the other side of the French doors which led to Sharpay's private balcony.

"But I want Daddy!", Brandon yelled as Sharpay tried to sooth him with comforting words and hugs.

Unknown to either one of them, Darby Evans stood just outside the door, listening intently.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

The next day, Troy walked through the lunchroom with an absent-minded look on his face. He still didn't understand what he'd done wrong. And then, suddenly, there she was in front of him. Troy almost ran right into Sharpay in the middle of the cafeteria, but neither of them said a word. Sharpay sat down at a table alone and Troy left the cafeteria, ignoring the calls of his friends.

Chad, Zeke and Jason followed Troy to the rooftop where Troy sat alone eating his lunch.

"Hey, um...", Chad started awkwardly. "We just had another meeting."

"Oh, wonderful."

"We had a team meeting about how we haven't been acting like a team. I mean us, not you. About the singing thing..."

"I don't even wanna talk about it."

"We just want you to know that we're gonna be there. Cheering for you."

"Huh?"

"Yeah", said Zeke, "If singing is what you wanna to do, we should boost you up, not tear you down."

"Yeah, win or lose, we're teammates", Chad said with a shrug. "That's what we're about. Even if you turn out to be the worst singer in the world." He playfully punched Troy in the arm.

"Which we don't know, because we haven't heard you sing", added Jason in an uncharacteristically lucid moment.

"And you're not gonna hear me sing, guys", Troy assured them. "Look, I only did this because I was trying to get back in good with Sharpay and now, she won't even talk to me... and I don't know why."

"We don't either, but we've got somebody who thinks she knows how to make it right", Chad announced as he pointed to the stairway where Gabriella emerged followed by the scholastic decathlon team.

Surprisingly though, Taylor McKessie stepped forward to speak first.

"We were jerks", Taylor told everyone, honestly. "No", she corrected herself. "We were worse than jerks because we were mean jerks. We thought Troy and the whole singing thing was killing our chances of having Gabriella on the scholastic decathlon team. We knew that Chad could get Troy to say things to make Gabriella want to forget the callbacks." She glanced back at her fellow team members standing behind her. "We planned it and we're embarrassed and sorry."

"And now", Gabriella stepped up to continue the explanation. "Everyone realizes that this was never about singing or basketball or the scholastic team. It's much more basic than that and I..." She looked at everyone gathered around and smiled encouragingly to them all. "..._we_ want to make it right. Look, I'm an outsider here, so I, maybe, I have a slightly different perspective. It's just ... it seems to me that if two people want to be together that it shouldn't take a convoluted musical audition to get them there."

"Ha, you don't know Sharpay", chuckled Chad nervously.

"Stop it! Stop it, right now, Chad!", Troy shouted, causing Chad to flinch at the vehemence in his voice. "You've been jealous to her for years, man. And it's got to stop. Now! I can have more than one best friend."

"I-I know that, man. And I'm sorry; I really am. I read her poem that Darbus posted in the hallway." Troy looked puzzled, but Chad continued. "And I finally realized what a jackass I've been."

"Maybe you should be telling Sharpay this ... not me."

Always one to find humor in any situation, Chad replied, "I would, except, she'd probably kill me on sight."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Look, we've all made mistakes", Taylor said, once again speaking for the group.

"And we're going to make it right", Gabriella finished for her with a bright smile and a twinkle in her eye.

**TBC**

Author's Notes:

I need to say a special thank you to _the road to damascus _who gave me permission to use her poem which used to be posted on the profile. I had to modify it a bit to fit this story, but it's basically the same thing. I have to tell you the first time I read her profile I was gobsmacked, dumbfounded, by it.

And really, choked up. I believe my exact words were, Wow.


	11. HELP!

**What We Keep Hidden**

_A High School Musical Fanfiction_

_by GimmeABeat_

**Chapter 11: HELP!**

"_And we're going to make it right", Gabriella finished for her with a bright smile and a twinkle in her eye. _

The next few days were busy for these teenage protagonists as Troy practiced for the basketball game, Gabriella studied for the decathlon and they both met to rehearse for the callbacks. On the surface, nothing had changed and it looked, for all the world, like two high school students well on their way to romance.

Ryan and Sharpay were walking down the hall humming 'Bop to the Top', but came to a stop when they heard the sound of Troy and Gabriella singing in the music room.

Ryan looked at the pained expression on his sister's face and said sympathetically, "You're too good for him anyway, Shar. And _we're_ better than both of them. We're going to win that callback, I just know it."

Sharpay didn't reply. She turned on her heel and marched as quickly as she could, away from the sound of those two voices.

Ryan walked over to peer through the wired glass window on the door to the music room. "Wow, they sound good", Ryan reluctantly admitted to himself.

"We have to do something." Ms. Darbus' voice at his shoulder nearly made Ryan jump out of his skin.

"Ah, Ms. Darbus", squeaked Ryan. He dramatically laid a hand to his heart. "You scared me."

"He's hurting her by doing this, isn't he?", Darbus asked as she watched the rehearsal wrap up and Troy, Gabriella, and Kelsi gathered their things and left. "Let's talk inside." Darbus opened the door of the now empty music room and ushered Ryan inside.

The door closed with an ominous thud and Ryan looked around nervously, not understanding what Darbus was doing.

Dropping her normally convoluted speech pattern, Darbus got straight to the point. "Troy Bolton is Brandon's father." It wasn't a question. She only wanted confirmation.

Ryan nodded silently ... too intimidated by this strong-willed teacher to speak aloud.

"I don't understand his motivations with respect to Sharpay, but I believe they are trying to make a mockery of my theater. Do you agree?"

Ryan nodded again.

"I don't want to hear anymore about Troy Bolton and that Montez girl", Darbus railed at Ryan. "But, if you believe as a co-president of the drama club, that changing the callbacks would be what's best for our theater program ... I might actually agree with you." Darbus dramatically threw her flowing silk scarf over her shoulder and walked out, the scarf billowing out behind her.

Ryan looked puzzled. "Huh?"

After they had both left, Kelsi stepped out from a hidden alcove with an astonished look on her face. She had come back to pick up some papers she left behind when she overheard the tail end of their conversation, but it was enough. Somehow, Ryan, and probably Sharpay, had convinced Ms. Darbus to move the auditions.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Gabriella, Taylor, Troy and his 'sports posse' came through the front doors of the school and walked over to join Kelsi where she stood, her eyes locked on the drama club bulletin board.

Troy looked from Kelsi to where she was staring and saw a change notice taped over the original callback flier. His eyes grew wide when he read the notice.

CALLBACK AUDITIONS RESCHEDULED TO FRIDAY, BEGINNING AT 3:30.

"Callbacks the same time as the game?", he lamented aloud.

"And the scholastic decathlon", added Gabriella.

"Why would they do that?", questioned Taylor.

"I smell a rat named Darbus", Chad announced, vehemently.

"Make that two rats", Kelsi provided.

"Do you know something about this, small person?", Chad asked Kelsi.

"Miss Darbus thinks she's protecting the show, but I'm not sure what Ryan's up to."

"So... Sharpay didn't have anything to do with this?", Troy asked Kelsi.

"I-I don't actually know to be honest. I only saw Darbus and Ryan talking, but I wouldn't put it past her."

"Ryan's protecting Sharpay or at least, he thinks he is."

"Do you know what I'll do to that hat-wearing, over-groomed show dog?" Chad slammed his basketball into the stomach of the student standing next to him and started to walk away, but stopped at Troy's words.

"Nothing, we're not gonna do anything to them. Except to sing, just like Gabriella's got planned, but now, this is only going to happen if we all work together." Troy, obviously had a plan of his own. He put his hand out and said, "Now who's in?"

Gabriella was the first to respond and she placed her hand on top of Troy's. One by one the others joined in.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"Ryan! Look at this!" Sharpay was in shock, standing in front of the same drama club board later that day. "Why did Darbus change the audition day?"

"Uh, why are you looking at me?", Ryan asked, shifting his eyes guiltily.

"You are a horrible liar, Ryan Evans." She pushed him again the board and ground out the next words. "Now, talk!"

"Alright, alright." He raised his hands defensively and she stepped back to let him explain. "Ms. Darbus thinks it would be in the best interest of the musicale if Troy and Gabriella miss the auditions, so she changed them to be the same time as the game and the decathlon."

"What about me?"

"What about you?"

"I can't be there on Friday afternoon either. Mother agreed to pick up Brandon on Thursday, but she has some big bridge tournament on Friday. She won't miss that. _I_ can't make a Friday audition, Ryan. This is all screwed up."

"Ah, man."

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"Hi, Mrs. Bolton? ... Yes, ma'am, this is Sharpay. You know how you said you'd help whenever I need it? Well, I need it."

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"Mom, please... We have auditions on Friday and we need you to pick up Brandon. You wouldn't even have to watch him for long. Just bring him to school."

"For you, Duckie, I'd be glad to help."

"Thanks, Mom. You're the greatest."

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Surprisingly, Friday arrived like any other day. The students went through their normal activities, no one realizing how much their lives would be changed by the end of the day. At precisely 3:10 pm the school bell rang and the halls flooded with students carrying banners and shouting, Go Wildcats! The school was definitely psyched for the big playoff game.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Darby Evans entered the daycare center looking impeccable, as always. She came straight from the country club where her bridge partner had just thrown their spot in the tournament so she wouldn't miss her nail appointment. Sissy was her best friend, but honestly, sometimes she didn't understand how that woman's mind worked.

Her hair was perfectly coiffed in a stylishly classic bob which softened the sharp angles of her face. She was extremely fine-boned and her best features, her high cheekbones and her striking green eyes always caused people to notice her when she entered a room, which she, of course, loved. Darby wore a cream colored Channel suit, her latest purchase from last week's trip to Paris. She was particularly proud of the matching turquoise color pumps and purse which she wore. They were Prada, of course, but they were _her_ Prada. Mrs. Evans brought a single piece of turquoise jewelry with her to Paris, an exquisite necklace made from Sleeping Beauty turquoise which Vance gave her for her birthday last year. Always proud of her roots, she loved to accentuate her wardrobe with items native to the southwestern United States. She'd worked with a designer in Prada's haute couture department and had the shoes and purse custom-made to perfectly match her necklace. Of course the color of the shoes and purse were so distinctive she'd never be able to wear them more than once, but it was still a well-spent $2,500.

She paused just inside the door to straighten her suit and orient herself to her surroundings. She'd only been here once or twice since Sharpay learned to drive. Not that she didn't love her grandson, but from the day they found out Sharpay was pregnant, they had made it very clear that she was be the baby's primary caregiver. Part of the reasoning for this was to keep her so busy she wouldn't be tempted to 'hook-up', as the children say, with anyone else... One grandchild at the age of 41was enough.

As she walked to the administration desk, Darby couldn't help but notice the stylishly dressed woman standing there. She had dark, shoulder-length hair and wore a navy pinstriped pants suit which Darby immediately recognized as Jones New York. It wasn't a bad suit, for prêt-à-porter, that is. Of course, no one would ever catch Darby Evans in ready-to-wear. And those shoes... they looked far too matronly ... with those square toes and low heels.

While she was still studying her, the other woman turned around and Darby was shocked to see Lucille Bolton, a woman she'd called a friend, until...

"Darby?", Lucille asked incredulously. _Why was she here?_

"Lucille, darling. It's been ages. What brings you here?" Darby was always courteous.

Before she could answer, a happy squeal erupted from the end of the hallway. Both women turned toward the sound with smiles on their faces when they saw little Brandon running toward them.

"Meme! Meme!", Brandon yelled ecstatically as his little legs pumped faster and faster towards Lucille.

She automatically dropped to her knees to be at his level and wrapped her arms around him as Brandon plowed into her with abandon. Darby, standing behind them, was speechless.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

In the gym the game was just about to begin and the cheerleaders were chanting loudly, getting the students revved up. When suddenly, the lights flickered and went out, plunging the gymnasium into momentary darkness before the emergency lights came up.

Chad gave Troy a nod and the team captain sneaked pass everyone and out the door in the chaos. Coach Bolton, his brow furrowed in consternation, watched Troy run out.

Principal Matsui picked up the microphone from the announcer's table. "I'm sure we'll get this figured out real soon. In the meantime, per safety regulations, we need to all make an orderly exit from the gym, please. Thank you."

Meanwhile, in the science classroom, where the decathlon was taking place, a large billowing cloud of noxious smoke wafted up from a decanter, causing everyone to flee from the room.

Troy, still wearing his basketball uniform, and Gabriella, in her white lab coat, met up backstage. The stage manager, a chubby freshman with a clipboard, approached them.

"You're early. You'll go on right after Sharpay and Ryan." He walked off while mumbling something into his walkie talkie.

"Are _you _ready?", Troy asked Gabriella.

She nodded nervously and removed her lab coat to reveal a skin-tight red salsa dress and silver high-heels. "I'm ready."

"Time to start Operation Switch-a-Twin." Troy quickly ran off in the direction of the dressing rooms and stopped outside the one with the large pink star on it. This was obviously the right door.

Inside, Ryan and Sharpay were doing a series of strange and bizarre deep breathing and relaxation exercises to prepare themselves for their number.

Ryan was just about to leave to change into his costume when he remembered he needed to tell Sharpay something.

"Oh, Shar, before I forget. I felt really bad about what happened with the rescheduling of the auditions, so I got Mom to pick up Brandon, so you're in the clear."

"You what?" Sharpay's mouth was hanging open in astonishment.

Misinterpreting her expression, Ryan puffed up his chest and added, "I know, I know. You don't have to thank me."

"Ryan, I got Mrs. Bolton to pick him up. What's going to happen if they both show up? Oh, this is terrible."

"Crap, I'm sorry. I thought I was trying to help. What should we do?"

Sharpay quickly checked her watch and sighed. "There's no time to do anything. What ever is going to happen has already happened."

"I feel terrible about this. What can I do to make it up to you?" He gave her his best puppy dog eyes.

Sharpay sighed before answering him. "To be honest, Ryan... You could let me live my own life." Ryan looked hurt as his eyes drifted to the floor. That wasn't what she intended and Sharpay softened her tone when she continued. "Look, I know I've made mistakes, and I really don't know what's going to happen between me and Troy ... 'cause it looks pretty bleak right now." She added with a sad little chuckle. "But I need to make those mistakes myself and you can't keep playing big brother trying to protect me." Her tone became very serious as she continued, "And ... I know you feel threatened by Troy..." Ryan stated to protest, but Sharpay cut him off. "You do, Ryan... how could you not? You've been Brandon's only real father figure since he was born. It's only natural that you'd want to keep Troy away. I understand that, but Troy wants a place in Brandon's life too."

Realization seemed to hit Ryan like a one of Cyndra's high notes. "Oh my God, you're right. I swear, Sharpay, I wasn't consciously trying to break you up. But I love you and Brandon and I don't want to see either of you get hurt."

"I'm not going to let that happen. I promise." Then, she grabbed him by both shoulders and continued seriously, "I trust you. Now, you need to trust me."

Ryan nodded and then added quietly, clearing his throat, "Hey, I gotta go get dressed."

"Me, too. See you in five."

Ryan left Sharpay alone to do the final touch-ups on her face and dress. After changing into her blue sparkling salsa dress, Sharpay took one more look at herself in the mirror, adjusted one of the faux jewels glued on her face, and walked to the door to join Ryan for their number. Frustration filled her eyes went she turned the knob and found it locked.

Darbus stood, facing the drama club members sitting in the auditorium. "Casting the leads of a show is both a challenge and a responsibility. A joy and a ..."

She stopped abruptly as scores of displayed fans, players, band members, parents and academia flooded into the theater. Coach Bolton stood in the back of auditorium, looking about for Troy and puzzled when he didn't see him. However, to his surprise, he did see his wife, Brandon, and most surprising to all, Darby Evans, as they all entered the theater together.

Lucille quickly spotted him and left the other two over to the coach. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Long story... I'll tell you later. Good afternoon, Darby", Jack said curtiously as the four of them sat down.

The blonde woman nodded and Jack leaned into his wife. "What's going on with you?"

"Another long story..." Before she could explain more, Darbus started to speak, which was fine with Lucille since she wasn't actually sure what was _going on_. After determining that both grandmothers had been sent to pick up Brandon, Darby had surprised her by asking, very politely, to come along with them to the school. And now, she sat next to them with Brandon sitting between the two older women like it was something they did everyday.

Darbus, not one to miss performing in front of an audience, motioned for everyone to quiet down and take a seat. "I don't know what's going on here, but please, join us and partake of the wonders of the theater." She gestured out flamboyantly in indication of the stage.

Then, playing to this new gallery, she started her introduction from the top.

"As I was saying, casting the leads of a show is both a challenge and a responsibility. A joy and a burden. I commend you and all other young artists to hold out for the moon, the sun and the stars." Darbus paused and awaited the anticipated applause. She wasn't disappointed. Reaching out for Kelsi's hand, she added, "Shall we soar together?" She smiled brightly for the yearbook photographers who snapped a not-so-candid shot of her.

Then, looking toward the empty stage, she called for her stars. "Sharpay and Ryan!"

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

When Sharpay heard Ms. Darbus' voice bellowing throughout the theater, she started frantically banging and kicking loudly on the door.

"Let me out of here!"

"Sharpay, calm down and I will", came the irritatingly serene voice of Troy Bolton from the other side of the door.

"Bolton! You son of a ..."

The sound of singing from the stage drowned out her profanity.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

As rehearsed, Ryan entered from stage left, looked out into the audience, momentarily taken aback by the _packed house_ and crooned, "Mucho gusto!", with a sexy, raised eyebrow. Then, he snapped his head to the right, to where Sharpay would make her entrance ... and his jaw dropped.

Instead of his sister in her blue salsa dress with the alluring fringe along the hem, he saw Gabriella Montez, wearing a simpler dress in blood red, but one which clung to her body in sinful ways.

"Ay, que fabulosa!", sang out Gabriella as she fanned herself and wiggled her hips lasciviously. She looked towards Ryan with a wicked smile on her face. Then, she trilled her tongue and yelled, "Ay! Ay! Ay!", while sauntering towards him and flicking the hem of her dress up and down.

Ryan was stunned to say the least and had absolutely no idea why this was happening. _Maybe, I'm being punk'd._ He quickly looked out into the seats, searching for Ashton Kutcher, but not finding him. He looked dramatically back at Gabriella.

"Arriba!" Ryan was nothing, if not the consummate professional.

"¿Quieres bailar?" Gabriella delivered her line perfectly when they met center stage. After all, she spoke Spanish like a native.

**TBC**

Author Notes: Oh my, what will happen next? Will Gabriella choke on Sharpay's song? Will Sharpay ever get out of the dressing room? Will she kill Troy when she does? And what about Darby tagging along with Meme and Brandon to the callbacks? Look to me like the makings of a picture perfect Disney ending.

Oh, I have to thank troypazash and cloisty for pointing out some of Ryan's motivations which lead to that scene between the twins in the dressing room. Hope I hit all your concerns.

Please R&R and let me know what you think.


	12. Breaking Free

**What We Keep Hidden**

_A High School Musical Fanfiction_

_by GimmeABeat_

**Chapter 12: Breaking Free**

"Come on, Sharpay. I can explain everything, but you have to promise to listen." Troy paused and waited for her explosion. When none came, he, very cautiously, opened the door, ... just a crack.

Sharpay saw her opportunity and hit the door with all her might. Even though he expected resistance from her, Troy hadn't anticipated a physical attack and was caught completely off guard. The edge of the door caught him on the forehead and knocked him to the floor.

Sharpay quickly stepped over the crumpled teenager and was almost to the stage when she heard his moan of pain. She made the mistake of glancing back at him and knew she was trapped. Troy lay, curled into a fetal position, holding his hand pressed against his head. With one final, forlorn look towards the stage, Sharpay turned around and marched back to Troy.

"Oh for crying out loud, Troy. Quit being such a wimp." She knelt down at his side and gently pulled his hand away from his eyebrow. He rolled onto his back, so she could get a better look at it. "Ewww, that's gotta hurt."

There was a large gash cut straight across his left eyebrow, forming one half of a jagged X, his brow forming the other half. It would probably need stitches.

"Y'think?", he moaned. "Why'd you hit me?"

"Why'd you lock me up and let your girlfriend sing my song?"

They could still hear Gabriella and Ryan singing on stage; they were about half way through the song and "shimmying" their way across the stage. Sharpay knew it wouldn't be long before they started climbing the tinsel wrapped ladder for the finale. She hoped that Montez girl fell off.

"She's not my girlfriend and why'd you come back to help me?"

She stood abruptly, purposely ignoring his question. "There's a first aid kit in my dressing room."

She stepped over him again and stomped over to a tall cabinet against the wall. She returned quickly and none-too-gently scrubbed his cut, ignoring his protests. Then, she slapped a bandaid over it and sat back to survey her work. "That'll do for now. But you ought to have it checked out. That cut might need stitches."

He sat up slowly and mumbled a quiet, "Thanks", to her.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Troy took a deep breath to start the explanation for his irrational behavior. "Please Sharpay, you may not agree with my methods, but you can't ignore my motivations."

She huffed at him and defensively crossed her arms and cocked a hip in his direction. "What motivation?"

"We need to be together. And this is my way of showing how much I want that to happen." He stopped a second to listen to what was happening on the stage, then turned back to Sharpay. "Look, I didn't plan on getting knocked out."

"You weren't _knocked_ out."

Troy sucked in a frustrated breath. "Whatever. Anyway, we're behind schedule. She's going to call us any second now."

"_Us_?"

"Yes, us. That's what I've wanted all along. I want us to be together in every way, in school, out of school, and in this musical." He reached out and took her hands in his. "So please, Sharpay. Sing with me."

Sharpay swallowed hard and wanted to tell him where to stick it, but she couldn't seem to pull herself away from those crystal blue eyes. Finally, she snapped out of it and asked the obvious question. "Sing what, Troy? We haven't even rehearsed."

"Sharpay, I know you better than you think. You know every song in the play by heart and don't deny it. But hey, I only know Breaking Free and I want to sing it with you."

"But I thought that was your special song with Gabriella."

"Please, Sharpay. There is no Gabriella. I mean, she's just a friend. In fact once she realized what we mean to each other..." He nearly faltered at her glower. "...w-what I want us to mean to each other, she's the one who came up with this idea."

"The brainaic wants me to sing with you?"

"Yeah, everyone does. The whole decathlon team and the basketball team. So, please, Sharpay. Please, let us be together and let it start with this song. Look, I know I screwed up a lot since that summer, but please believe me ... I love you and I love Brandon and I want us, all three of us, to be together."

"Oh God, Troy. I want so much to believe you", Sharpay admitted as her traitorous eyes filled with tears.

"Then, do. Please..."

"What if you hurt me again, Troy? I don't think I could handle it." She paused a second to sniff. "And now it won't just be me, it'll be Brandon who gets hurt too. He loves you so much, Troy. You've come to fill a void in both our lives that I didn't even realize existed." She paused and took a deep breath, knowing that there would be no turning back from this. "Okay ... I'll do it."

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Back on stage, Ryan and Gabriella ended their song to a chorus of applause from the filled auditorium.

Darby leaned over to Lucille to ask, "Who's that girl singing with Ryan?"

"Don't know. Jack?" Lucille passed the question on to him.

"That's Gabriella Montez. She's..." Jack paused, not quite sure how she fit into any of this and finally finished with, "She's ... new."

Ms. Darbus walked up onto the stage and addressed the theater. "Now, that was certainly an unexpected, but pleasant, surprise. Do you see why we love the theater, people? Well done! Ryan and ... Gabriella." She gave them both a well deserved nod and the two teens held hands and bowed to the audience, again.

"Ah, now next we have... well, I have no idea whom we have auditioning. Would it be Troy Bolton and ... Sharpay?"

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Troy pulled her into his arms and then started peppering little kisses all over her face.

"Stop", Sharpay giggled. "You're going to smug my makeup", she chastised in a very unconvincing tone.

Troy stopped and pulled back to study her. "You're beautiful without it."

Sharpay sniffed again. "I don't feel very beautiful right now."

"Hey, Darbus is going to call us any second now, so lick my thumbs." Troy held up both thumbs, pads toward Sharpay.

"What!?", Sharpay reared her diva head and snapped.

"I need to wipe the mascara off your face and it's either going to be with my spit or your own --- your choice."

He made to move one of his hands to his mouth when Sharpay grabbed his hands and quickly licked both thumbs. Troy proceeded to gently wipe the black tear trails off her face, looking into her smoky amber colored eyes when he finished. He cleared his throat before continuing, not wanting to admit the effect her warm tongue had had on his skin.

"You ready, Shar?"

She graced him with a small smile. "Yeah, I'm ready."

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"Troy? Sharpay?", Darbus called out again into the crowded auditorium.

"Wait, Miss Darbus, wait! We're ready; we can sing", Troy shouted as he dragged Sharpay onto the stage with him.

Darbus looked curiously at Sharpay, searching for any deception. Apparently, she found none.

She took a deep breath and announced solemnly, "Now, that's showbiz."

Kelsi walked, hesitantly, over to Sharpay, obviously worried. Looking up at her with wide, doe-like eyes, she opened her mouth to apologize for what happening back in middle school when she snooped at Sharpay's letter.

Sharpay saw her approach and really wasn't in the mood for another confrontation with the little busy-body. Therefore, before she could say anything, Sharpay interrupted with a sharp, "You really don't want to do that."

Kelsi steeled her resolve and blurted out, "Oh yes, I really do. I need to apologize, Sharpay." Sharpay's eyes widened in shock. "I'm sorry. I should have never opened that letter." There was no need to say which letter; they both remembered vividly.

Six months ago, Sharpay would have told Kelsi where to stick it, but things had changed considerably, both within her and around her. Instead, her demeanor changed instantly and her scowl transformed into a smile as Sharpay accepted Kelsi's olive branch. "Middle school was a long time ago. We've all grown up a lot since then. Just ... go play that piano, okay?"

Kelsi nodded enthusiastically, "Sure, sure. My best ever." The small teenager ran off towards the piano, holding onto the top of her bowler so it didn't fall off.

Troy joined her and tried to ask what that was about, but someone thrust microphones into their hands and the music started. Troy immediately switched into performer-mode.

"**We're soarin', flyin' there's not a star in heaven that we can't reach." **Troy reached up as if to pluck an actual star from the sky and then reached out and took Sharpay's free hand in his. She looked nervous the entire time Troy was singing and Sharpay Evans never got nervous before a performance. The audience consisted mostly of people from the basketball game and the decathlon and they weren't looking at her kindly.

Even if she was nervous, it didn't show in her voice and Sharpay came in right on queue.

"**If we're trying, so we're breaking free." **

Troy could feel how sweaty her hand was becoming and he started rubbing tiny circles on the back of her hand with his thumb. They locked their fingers together and faced their audience as Troy sang, **"You know the world can see us, in a way that's different than who we are."**

Truer words had never been spoken.

"**Creating space between us ... 'til we're separate hearts."** She stepped away from him and released his hand. Sharpay blinked back the tears that suddenly welled in her eyes. It was like this song had been written just for them.

**"But your faith, it gives me strength, strength to believe."** They sang directly to each other, never losing the lock between their eyes.

Troy felt invigorated. This was where he'd wanted to be for so long.

He blasted out, **"We're breakin' free..."**

With a bright smile on her face Sharpay sang out, completely confident, **"We're soarin'..."**

**"Flyin'." **Suddenly, he burst out on the next line and sailed around in a circle with his arms held out like the wings of a plane.

A loud childish squeal erupted from the back row of seats and even with the stage lights shining on them, blinding them to the audience, both teens instantly recognized Brandon's voice. Sharpay waggled her fingers out in his direction, a special little wave to her son.

On the back row Brandon squealed again and stood up on his seat to get a better look. Two anguish grandmothers instantly reached for the little boy to steady him. Lucille's and Darby's hands met on Brandon's back and they gave each other a small smile before returning their attention to their children on the stage.

"**There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach."**

The audience became caught up in the energy of the song and started clapping along. Even the previously scowling cheerleaders seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Troy switched the microphone to his other hand like a pro. **"If we're trying..."**

"**Yeah, we're breaking free."**

Sharpay smiled brightly as she watched Troy sing, realizing for the first time how good he really was. He swept away from her and sang directly to the crowd, so at ease, it looked like he'd done this his whole life.

**"Oh, we're breakin' free."**

**"Ohhhh"**, she sang out the prescribed background sound and realized another first for her. She didn't mind playing second to him. She would have never let Ryan have the better lines, but with Troy... things were different.

**"Can you feel it building? Like a wave the ocean just can't control..."** And was Troy Bolton actually moon-walking on stage? He pointed over to her, handing over next line.

"**Connected by a feeling... in our very souls." **Sharpay added a sultry swivel to her hips as she raked a hand down her side, tracing the outline of her figure. This song was a far cry from the genre that she and Ryan usually sang.

"**Very souls, oooo."** Troy gave himself a quick little hug as if Sharpay were in his arms when he joined back in.

Standing backstage, Ryan and Gabriella watched in wonder.

"Wow, they sing really well together", the dark haired girl asked the pale-skinned boy. "It's hard to believe they've never practiced."

"Yeah, it is. Speaking of which... why did you sing with me, anyway?" In all the excitement, Ryan had forgotten to ask the most obvious question.

"Simple... they needed to sing together, but Troy needed the time to convince Sharpay that it was a good idea. And just take a look", Gabriella indicated to the two teens singing their hearts out on the stage. "It was a _very_ good idea."

"Umm", Ryan shyly tipped his head to the side, "I thought we sounded pretty good, too."

"Really?", Gabriella asked excitedly as she turned away from the action on the stage to face Ryan. "I-I thought we were pretty good. I was really nervous, but you were very professional and confident that it made me confident too." She gave him her sweetest smile.

"I'm glad I could help and ummm, I really like your dress." And then, thinking that was a forward statement to make, amended his compliment. "I-I mean, red's a great color on you."

She bashfully lifted one shoulder in a shrug and replied quietly, "Thank, Ryan."

Back in front of the crowd, Troy and Sharpay danced over to center stage, towards each other, and slowly raised their hands into the air, ending with them pointing up to the stars.  
**"Rising 'til it lifts us up, so every one can seeeeee!"**

Troy gave his arm a quick pump in the air and winked to his special fan sitting in the back row.

"**We're breakin' free..."**

Troy circled around Sharpay as she twirled around singing only to him. **"We're soarin'..."**

And again Troy repeated his airplane imitation. **"Flyin'"**

"**There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach"**

Troy's voice was never stronger. **"If we're trying..."**

And Sharpay joined in with a smile. **"Yeah, we're breaking free."**

The audience was energizing them as well and Sharpay and Troy twisted around in circles and danced and skipped and sang to each other joyfully.

"**Ohhhh runnin'" **She had never felt this alive during a song before.

**"Climbin'... To get to that place..."** He reached for her hand and noticed it was warm, but not sweaty like before.

They joined together again, pulling the vitality from their fellow students. **"To be all that we can be."**

Troy's happiness was obvious to everyone, especially his teammates who were thrilled and shocked at how fantastic his performance was. **"Now's the time."**

Jack leaned over to Lucille and had to shout over the roar of the crowd. "Did you know he was this good?"

Darby bent her head forward to answer, even though the question wasn't addressed to her. "No and I've never seen Sharpay sing with such vigor and energy before, either. They sound good together."

Jack looked at her in surprise, especially when she beamed at him with such an honest smile on her face. Then, Darby surprised him even more by standing and picking Brandon up so he could have a better view. She was even swaying along to the music.

Back on the stage, the pair was still going strong and the house was rockin'.

Sharpay sang out with all her heart to a student body that sometimes seemed to resent her and now, she was bringing them pleasure with this song.

"**This is true ... This is fate ... And together..."**

The audience was standing now, clapping and swaying to the song.

Troy joined in, **"We see it comin'"**

Troy reached out an open hand to her with a yearning in his eyes. **"More than you; more than me"**

She answered him in words that must have been written for them. **"Not a want, but a need"**

Together they sang out strong. **"Both of us breakin' free!"** The large three-dimensional moon that Troy painted last week lowered slowly onto the stage, setting the perfect backdrop for their performance.

Troy took Sharpay's hand and twirled her like a ballerina and she remembered how she'd really hated those dance classes as a child. All she really wanted to do was play with her two best friends. Now she was grateful for the grace it gave her.

"**Soarin'"**, Sharpay sang as she spun around the stage.

"**Flyin'"**, Troy answered back.

"**There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach"**

The entire theater continued to rock along with the singers like they were at a concert. Even Ms. Darbus clapped along and did a little gig.

When Grandmother put him down and began to clap in earnest, Brandon saw his opportunity. With everyone on their feet, clapping and swaying to the music, he had no trouble sneaking away from his grandparents and running down the aisle toward the stage.

Sharpay skipped around in a circle like when she and Brandon played with Boi in the backyard.

"**We're runn..."** However, before she could finish the word, she was bumped by a small body plowing into the back of her legs. Instantly, she realized what, or rather, who it was, she turned around and smiled down at her son. Troy saw the collision and ran over to scoop Brandon up in the air, easily placing him on his shoulders without losing his spot in the song.

"**Ohhhh, climbin'" **He wiggled Brandon's legs back and forth as if he was climbing a mountain and Brandon squealed and clutched onto Troy's hair to keep from falling off.

Then, Sharpay joined them as she reached up to put a steading hand on Brandon's bottom.

"**To get to the place ... To be all that we can be ... Now's the time ..."**

Troy looked over at Sharpay and took her hand in his and sang directly to her, **"Now's the time"**

Sharpay answered him. **"So we're breaking free"**

Troy echoed, his eyes never leaving hers. **"Ohhh, we're breaking free..."**

To their surprise and delight, Brandon sang out from atop his father's shoulders, **"Ohhhh"**, right on cue, except it was his mother's line, not his.

The crowd laughed along with the family on stage.

They faced back to their fellow classmates and sang together as the music slowed.

"**You know the world can see us ... In a way that's different than who we are."**

The packed theater erupted with applause and cheering that rivaled any high school sporting event. Troy placed Brandon back on the ground and he took one of his small hands while Sharpay held the other as they faced the crowd and bowed. Then, they motioned over to Kelsi, their composer and pianist, and she also took a bow.

Troy leaned over and gently kissed Sharpay on the cheek while Brandon joined in on the cheering. Neither of them realized when Brandon slipped the microphone out of Troy's hand.

"That's my mommy and daddy!", Brandon proudly announced to the teeming auditorium which turned instantly mute.

Sharpay's eyes grew wide and she looked worriedly to Troy, but he just smiled widely and picked up Brandon in his arms as he faced the throng. "That's right, Brandon", he said into the toddler's microphone, "I'm very proud to say that I'm your dad." There were quiet murmurs in the theater, but surprisingly, no one seemed shocked at the news, they were just interested to see Troy's reaction.

"What do you say ... Mom?", Troy asked, turning to Sharpay.

Sharpay smiled before replied, "I think you have a basketball game to win." She took Brandon from him and pushed Troy toward the auditorium door.

**TBC**


	13. We're All in This Together

**What We Keep Hidden**

_A High School Musical Fanfiction_

_by GimmeABeat_

**Chapter 13: We're All in This Together**

"... and West High's pushin' the ball", bellowed the excited announcer as the championship game reached its pinacle. "Fast break. Lookin' for an open man."

"Oh, but it's stolen by number 14, heading back the other way!" Troy stormed through West High's defense and took the ball, dribbling it back toward the Wildcat's goal.

West High School's coach cringed when both teams barreled past him towards the Wildcat's basket.

"East High has the ball! Time is running down on the clock!" The scoreboard counted down the seconds 11, 10, 9, ... as the score sat ominously at 66 to 67 with East High trailing by one point.

The announcer continued to interpret Troy's moves. "Looking for an open man. Fake. Swing to the outside. Ball on the perimeter. Looks for a man on the inside. Nice screen. Shot's up! And it's good! A 12-foot jump shot as time expires for the victory!"

The entire team and the cheerleaders swarmed around Troy at center court. "East High has won the championship! Your East High Wildcats are champions! Congratulations, East High!"

The crowd became as overwhelmed as the team and started chanting Troy's name.

"Troy! Troy! Troy!"

An official handed Coach Bolton the championship trophy and he excitedly ran towards his team with it held firmly in his grasp. Students started pouring off the benches like melting chocolate on a hot fudge sundae and quickly filled the court.

"Coming through! Coming through! Coming through!", Jack shouted over the bluster of the crowd as he made his way through the throng of students to his son.

He handed Troy the huge trophy and the younger Bolton lifted it proudly over his head while two of his teammates hoisted him onto their shoulders and paraded him around the gym floor. Loud shouts of "Wildcats! Get your head in the game!" reverberated throughout the cavernous room.

Troy was finally lowered to the floor and Jack immediately engulfed him in a huge hug. "I'm proud of you, son."

"Thanks, Dad!", Troy replied.

Darbus, who had just spent a harrowing few minutes making her way through the boisterous mob, cautiously tapped Troy on the shoulder to get his attention. "Bravo!", she burst out.

"Brava!", responded Coach Bolton as Darbus quickly scurried away.

Gabriella ran up behind him and hugged Troy. "Congratulations, Wildcat!"

Troy spun around and grabbed onto her shoulders. "What about your team?"

"We won too!", she exclaimed, referring to the Scholastic Decathlon.

"That's fantastic, Gabriella! And I really wanted to thank you again for all your help. I couldn't have pulled that off if it wasn't for you."

She smiled sweetly back at him. "My pleasure, Troy. It's obvious that you two belong together."

Sharpay and Ryan joined them and Troy reached over and pulled Sharpay closer to him. Sharpay noticed that Gabriella had changed from the skin-tight salsa dress into an equally attractive red party dress, perfect for the after-party and she had even accessorized with some silver bangled bracelets. When did she have time to change?, Sharpay thought idly. She, herself, had also changed. Now she wore a white tanktop, emblazoned with Swarovski rhinestones, and low-rise pants with a narrow silver belt and a wide white belt hanging criss-crossed around her waist. Sharpay topped off her ensemble with a large silver heart necklace that Brandon had given her for Christmas.

"Did you hear the news?", Ryan asked Gabriella while grabbing onto her hands excitedly.

"What?", she giggled back.

"Congratulations are in order for you two", Sharpay announced, indicating Ryan and Gabriella. "I guess I'm going to be the understudy in case you can't make one of the shows, so ... break a leg." At Gabriella's shocked expression, Sharpay grinned and explained, "In theater that means good luck."

"And you'll be my understudy, Troy", Ryan told him with more than a little bit of self-gratification.

"Wow, you guys won the part?", Troy asked in astonishment. He was so sure he and Sharpay had nailed it.

"Yep." Ryan was feeling so cocky he actually started rocking back and forth on his heels. "Hey Gabby, let's go talk to Kelsi about which songs we should start learning next." The two happy 'stars' ran off towards the small composer.

Once they left, Troy turned to Sharpay with a frown on his face. "I'm sorry; it was all my fault", he said seriously.

"What are you talking about?"

"If I'd let you audition with Ryan like you wanted to, you would have gotten the part."

She shook her head at him as if he were a small child. "You don't get it, Troy, but Darbus does."

"Uh?"

"She pulled me aside after the callbacks and explained her reasoning. She thinks we need to spend more time together, and not under the spotlight of the drama club. And now, that we don't have to rehearse four days a week for the next month, we'll have more time to devote to us and ... our son."

"Wow? So we lost, ... but we won too, I guess."

"Absolutely." She dazzled him with a big smile.

"Where's Brandon?" He needed to talk to him, but didn't want to arouse Sharpay's suspicions.

"Your mom's watching him. Did you see how excited he was when he was on stage with you? I've never seen him that happy."

"Yeah, he's a great kid; but right now, I'd rather spend time with his mother."

He drew her in close to him and their lips were only inches from each other when Chad bounded up, shouting as he did. "Yo! Team voted you the game ball, Captain!" Then, he shoved the ball into Troy's hand, inadvertently pushing him away from Sharpay.

"Yeah, thanks. Thanks a lot", Troy said with a slight mocking tone to his voice.

Chad, completely oblivious to his interruption, was all smiles and he grabbed Taylor as she walked by, pulling her closely to him. "So...you're going with me to the after-party, right?"

She was stunned and asked, "Like on a date?"

"Must be your lucky day", replied the cocky young man.

Rather than reply to his question, Taylor let a short squeal of happiness and ran over to Gabriella who was still in deep conversation with Kelsi and Ryan. "Chad just asked me out!"

Gabriella squealed back in joy for her friend.

Back with Troy and Sharpay, Troy was once again almost touching lips with Sharpay when Zeke ran up to them with a red gym bag in his hand. "Hey, Sharpay. I'm sorry you didn't get the lead, but I think you're _really_ good. I admire you so much." And this time is was the truth, thought Zeke. Chad hadn't persuaded him into it.

Irritated at having been interrupted, yet again, she flippantly replied, "Why wouldn't you? Now, bye-bye." She started to walk off, dragging Troy with her.

"Oh, wait", Zeke implored while opening his gym bag and pulling out a small plastic bag. "I baked some cookies."

"Ew." Sharpay wrinkled her nose and finally, managed to get away from him.

Brandon appeared out of nowhere, as small children were apt to do when there were sweets involved, and accepted the cookies, saying, "Thanks", as he grabbed the bag and ran away.

Sharpay didn't stop until she was almost under the bleachers in the most isolated area of the gym. Then, she turned to Troy and pulled him into a most anticipated kiss. Surprisingly, Troy pulled away and ended the kiss before it could deepen. "Hang on a minute, Shar." He looked around them until he spotted Brandon. "I need to talk to Brandon." He ran off toward the little boy, leaving the stunned and highly affronted blonde standing alone.

Just then, Chad walked up quietly, with his head down and a remorseful expression on his face.

"Hey, um... Sharpay? Could we talk?"

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

Darby sat uncomfortably on the benches, one of the few people in the gymnasium who didn't jump to their feet at the end of the exciting game. Jack, noticing her for the first time, walked over slowly.

"So, that was something, wasn't it?", the coach asked as he sat down beside her.

"Indeed."

"I heard Troy and Sharpay didn't get the part. I'm surprised. I thought they were really good together." He reached up and started to loosened his tie, but thought better of it, considering the company, and awkwardly put his hand back down by his side.

"I agree; they were very good together and maybe they should be."

"Beg pardon?"

"Be together, Jack", she said pointedly. "I think Vance was wrong. I thought he was wrong three years ago, but I was too devastated with what was going on to say anything. Troy obviously still cares for Sharpay and I believe it's mutual. And did you see how little Brandon's eyes lit up when he looked at your son?"

"Yeah... I think that's mutual too, Darby."

"Yes, I think it is." She took a deep breath and rose elegantly from the hard wooden bench. "I'll speak with Vance tonight. If I can't convince him, no one can." Then, she reached over and patted Jack on his arm and added, "But don't worry, it'll all work out. I-I'm not always good at showing my feelings, even to people I love, it's how I was raised. _Never let them see you cry_ was my mother's motto. Unfortunately, that meant building up a wall that was so strong and high no one could penetrate it, but I'm starting to realize the error of that mantra. I saw how Brandon's eyes also lit up when he saw Lucy and after speaking with her, I found out he's only known her for about two months. That hurt, more than I'd like to admit and I'm going to do something about it." At Jack's worry expression, she explained, "I'm going to start loving my family the way they deserve to be loved, Jack. And surprisingly enough, I think I have your wife to thank for it ... even if she does prefer prêt-à-porter." With that remark, she smoothed out the non-existent wrinkles in her clothing and walked over to speak to her son and find out more about this _new_ girl.

Jack had a puzzled look on his face after Darby left and looked over at his assistant coach who had just walked up. "Jim, what's preta porty?"

It was still quite loud in the gymnasium and Jim wasn't as young as he used to be, so it should have come as little surprise when he said, "Pizza party? I heard it's gonna be a hum-dinger. The team's goin' to CiCi's." He chuckled a little before continuing. "I hope somebody called ahead to warn'em, so they start cookin' early. Those young fellas'll eat'em out of business."

"Never mind", Jack said vaguely as he left, searching for Lucy. Maybe he'd ask her, but what if it was something really insulting? He decided it wasn't worth the risk and to just keep it to himself. Besides, things were definitely starting to look up in this family and he didn't want to take any chances.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

After Chad's heartfelt apology and admission that he was a idiot, to which Sharpay heartily agreed, she forgave him. Life was too short to live with bad feelings among friends and she really did want to be his friend again. It seemed like even Chad Danforth was growing up.

Sharpay was so miffed at having been abandoned by Troy that she wondered back onto the court, trying to find someone to talk to. Everyone was pleasant to her, which came as a bit of a surprise, since she'd just caused the reputation downfall of the hottest guy in school. However, it made sense, she supposed. When Brandon announced to the school that Troy was his daddy, how could anyone find any grievance when the news was delivered with such innocent enthusiasm? She had to smile when she thought about it. She seemed to be smiling a lot lately.

From amidst a sea of people still milling about on the court, Troy appeared with Brandon following behind, fidgeting with something in his small hands.

"This'd better be good", she mumbled, but smiled as they drew near. She couldn't help it. Father and son were so much alike; she noticed for the first time today that they actually had the same walk. Could a walk be genetic?

"Just like we practiced, buddy," Troy whispered in the boy's ear.

Brandon took a step or two closer to his mother and uncurled his hands. She stared in shock at the ring lying there. It was sterling silver with two interlinking hearts and a small diamond nestled in the hearts' conjoined space. Troy placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and the other atop Sharpay's right hand.

"Sharpay, will you accept this promise ring?" Glancing quickly down at Brandon, he added hastily, "It's from both of us."

Sharpay blinked. She hadn't been expecting this at all. Murmurs of encouragement circulated through the mass of people surrounding her. She looked from the child to his father and back again. Both wore the same expectant look.

"Yes", Sharpay finally answered. She couldn't keep from crying as Brandon took the ring and slid it onto her ring finger of her left hand.

"Did Daddy teach you that?" she asked, stooping down to pull Brandon into a hug. She gave the boy a kiss on his cheek before leaning up to exchange a brief gesture with Troy as well.

Troy reached in his gym bag and pulled out the game ball which Chad had given him earlier. He handed the ball down Brandon. "Brandon, here's your game ball. You deserve it, son."

Brandon's eyes lit up. This was way cooler than a ring. He looked up at the hoop just as someone picked him up from behind. Turning, he saw it was Grandpa Coach. Jack helped him line up the shot and Brandon sent it swishing into the net effortlessly.

The school pep band started playing up in the stands. "Here we go!", someone shouted.

Ryan grabbed Brandon and carried him over to the sidelines, much to the little boy's disappointment. "Trust your Uncle Ryan, Bran. This'll be great!" He pulled a Brandon-sized red fedora out of his bag and shaped it carefully before handing it to his nephew. Brandon looked skeptical.

At center court, the cheerleaders gathered in a circle and morphed into a straight line.

_**Together, together, together everyone!**_

The perky cheerleaders rippled down the line and peeled off to either side while Wildcat-scratching into the air.

_**Together, together, come on, let's have some fun!**_

After the cheerleaders ran off to the sidelines, Chad appeared and jumped high into the air, executing an impressive split at the apex of his leap.

_**Together, we're there for each other every time.**_

_**Together, together, come on, let's do this right!**_

Troy danced light-heartedly around the court, grabbed hands with one of the decathlon members and shook his hand, then he swayed rhythmically with a passing cheerleader as he sang out,

_**Here and now it's time for celebration! I finally figured out!**_

"_**Yeah! Yeah!"**_, everyone joined in.

"_**That all our dreams ... huh!"**_, Troy bumped chests with Zeke, _**"have no limitations."**_ The perky blonde cheerleader was suddenly grinding against him and Troy quickly danced away from her, knowing the consequences if Sharpay thought he was the least bit interested in her ... which he wasn't.

"_**That's what it's all about!"**_

"_**Come on, now"**_, Sharpay sang out as she danced and shimmied among the crowd. _**"Everyone is special in their own way. We make each other strong."**_

Kelsi and Taylor joined in on the echoed chorus. _**"Make each other strong."**_

"_**We're not the same, we're different in a good way"**_, Sharpay continued as she was swept into another student's arms. _**"Together's where we belong."**_ From there she was spun directly into Troy's strong embrace.

The entire basketball team, drama club, and cheerleading squad formed a chorus line and belted out a choreographed dance.

_**We're all in this together! **_

_**Once we know that we are, **_

_**we're all stars and we see that. **_

_**We're all in this together ... **_

_**and it shows when we stand **_

_**hand in hand ... **_

_**make our dreams come true.**_

_**Everybody now! **_

_**Together, together, together everyone. **_

_**Together, together, come on, let's have some fun. **_

_**Together, together, we're there for each other every time. **_

_**Together, together, come on, **_

_**let's do this right!**_

Ryan stood in the stands with Brandon by his side and he'd just convinced his nephew to wear the hat which perfectly matched his own.

_**We're all here and speaking out with one voice. We're gonna rock the house...**_

Brandon shouted out in his much higher pitched little boy voice, _**"Yeah, yeah!"**_

Both Troy and Sharpay turned and looked up in amazement to see Brandon standing confidently on one of the bleacher seats next to Ryan. Sharpay's eyes narrowed instantly. What was Ryan thinking? Brandon could easily fall off. He's not even three years old yet!

_**The party's on, now everybody make some noise.**_

Ryan knew exactly how to work a crowd and he raised his arms in the air signaling that everyone should join in with him. Then, he reached over and picked up Brandon, much to the little boy's delight, and sang out, _**"Come on, scream and shout!"**_, as he threw Brandon out into a line basketball players. Brandon was all smiles as he dived out like he was Superman and landed safely in their arms where they held him high and passed him along to the end of the line while Gabriella walked underneath the human archway.

_**We've arrived because we stuck together. Champions, one and all.**_

Gabriella reached over and accepted Ryan's hand as she continued to sing. Ryan couldn't help but glance at his sister and knew there would be hell to pay later, but for now, Brandon was standing between Troy and Sharpay and stomping out the song like a pro.

_**We're all in this together.**_

_**Once we know that we are, we're all stars. **_

_**And we that **_

_**We're all in this together. **_

_**And it shows when we stand, hand in hand. **_

_**Make our dreams come true.**_

Troy and Sharpay both reached out a hand to Brandon and lifted him up off the ground, much to his delight, as they continued to sing.

_**We're all in this together. **_

_**When we reach, we can fly, know inside, we can make it. **_

_**We're all in this together. **_

_**Once we see there's a chance that we have and we take it.**_

_**Wildcats sing along. **_

_**Yeah, you really got what's goin' on. **_

_**Wildcats in the house! **_

_**Everyone say it now! **_

_**Wildcats everywhere, **_

_**Wave your hands up in the air, **_

_**That's the way we do it, let's get to it! **_

_**Time to show ... the world!"**_

Sharpay reached out a hand to Troy and he surprised her by taking it and pulling her into him and quickly lowered his mouth onto hers in that perfect kiss which she had been anticipated for so long. Ryan pulled Brandon's hat down on his head to shield him from the higher than PG-13 rated kiss as the two teenagers continued to make-out in the middle of the gymnasium completely oblivious to the smiling crowd around them.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

After everyone had cleared out, Zeke was standing in the empty gymnasium, holding a red balloon and staring dejectedly down at the other balloons which were lying abandoned on the floor. Suddenly, Brandon burst through a red door at the far end of the court and dashed across the polished wood floor toward him. He halted about twenty feet from the teenager and exclaimed in a panting breath, "These cookies are the best things I've ever tasted! Will you make some more for me, Zeke?"

Jack Bolton flew out of the same door, obviously looking for Brandon, who'd also quite obviously escaped.

Brandon charged at Zeke with a gleam in his eye, kicking balloons out of his way as he ran. Zeke slowly shuffled away nervously, not sure what to make of this possessed, sugar-high child. As he drew closer, Zeke actually turned and tried to flee, but Brandon caught him before he made it more than a couple of steps. The toddler grabbed the frightened basketball player around his knees from behind in a surprisingly strong grip for such a small boy. Deciding it wasn't worth the fight, Zeke smiled down at him and replied, "Sure kid, I might even make you crème brûlée."

After securing the firm promise of more cookies, Brandon and Coach Bolton walked hand-in-hand through the halls to where his parents were waiting to go home. Both held cookies in their free hands.

"Grandpa Coach?", Brandon asked as he took a bite. "What's cream bruu-lee?"

"You got me kiddo. I'm still tryin' to figure out preta porty."

**The End**

Author Notes: Yea!!!! The end of another story. Always a time of much rejoicing.

I wanted to let you guys know that I had this final chapter completed days ago, but then, I got this great review from Clotisy and she said she was really looking forward to "We're all in this Together". Originally, I just wrote something lame like ... the pep band started playing and they all joined in, exclaiming that they were "All in This Together". I hope you liked this version cuz it was much harder to write.

Definition time, in case you forgot... prêt-à-porter is French for ready-to-wear and it's the fancy-smancy way of describing how most of the world buys their clothes. And of course, crème brûlée is a creamy custard with a caramelized surface. It's really satisfying, so I hear.

Hope you weren't too shocked with that twist in who won the roles of Minnie and Arnold. Author ducks to avoid virtual tomatoes being hurled at her.

I have to give special thanks to my Beta reader, Trish. Hi, Trish. Who fixes all my typos and bad grammar (she even corrects my author notes) and gives me great ideas like that twist with who won the callbacks. It was all her idea people --- she made me do it. See how I just cleverly deflected all that blame onto you, Trish? Seriously, I thought it was a great idea.

I want to thank everyone who's taken the time to review and to let you know that it's not too late to leave one now. You guys have no idea how excited I get when I read them. And also, although I'm not always successful, I try to personally reply to each and every review, even if it's just to say thanks.

Wow, all this work for a movie that was only 1:37:45 in length. Go figure! This was probably the hardest thing I've ever written, what with trying to keep it within the framework of the original movie and still have it be TroyPay. I'm not planning on continuing this with HSM 2 or 3, but if one of you would like to tackle it ... feel free. Also, if anyone needs large chunks of original dialogue for any reason, I have a lot of it. That's how I wrote this thing. I watched the original movie and transcribed it, along with actions too --- sort of like a novelization. Then, changed it to fit my plot. Took fooorrrevvver.

And please take note that I took the time to describe the changes of clothes that Gabriella and Sharpay changed into _and_ I gave Gabriella a reason to change since I had her dressed in a sexy salsa dress. BTW, why did she change clothes anyway? You would have thought that if Gabriella had a snazzy red dress, she would have had it on under the lab coat and worn it for audition. But hey, nobody asked me.

I hope I've fulfilled the Disney-standard where everyone lives happily ever after and they all love each other even if they hated each other 15 minutes earlier.

The next one is going to be very AU and a future fic, so I don't have to adhere to all these constrictions. In fact, I'm pretty sure Gabriella is going to be a complete bitch in the next one. It's in the future and college does change people, right?


End file.
